## 6 Discussion
The areas where the lessons learned from debris management in Anatolia can make an effective contribution include, in particular, preparedness and planning, public awareness and education, debris management strategies, collaborative approaches, robust infrastructure design, as well as evaluation and continuous improvement of the earthquake debris management strategies, policies, and practices. The correct and incorrect responses in selecting and operating earthquake debris disposal sites in southeastern Turkey after the February 2023 earthquakes can highlight the importance of related preparedness and planning for debris management. Decision-makers can prioritize developing comprehensive disaster management plans that include strategies for efficient debris removal, treatment, and disposal. This can comprise establishing and adopting new guidelines and partnerships with relevant stakeholders, as well as allocating means and resources for debris management. The lessons learned from the earthquake debris management in East Anatolia can highlight the importance of actions for raising awareness and educating the public. The authorities involved in earthquake disaster management, particularly in earthquake debris management can prioritize public awareness-raising actions to educate communities about the importance of proper debris management including debris reduction, reusing, and recycling. Thus, they can promote active, safe, and effective participation and cooperation of the population in the earthquake-affected areas during the debris removal, treatment, and disposal phases. Furthermore, the authorities involved in earthquake debris management can work effectively towards the development, adoption, and implementation of integrated management systems capable of removing, treating, and disposing of large volumes of debris produced by destructive earthquakes. This may be accomplished through forming partnerships with debris management organizations and fostering collaboration and coordination among stakeholders including also local communities, non-governmental organizations, and private sector entities. Making investments in alternatives of debris management including recycling, reusing, incineration, composting, mechanical separation, and biological remediation among others, and advocating for environmentally friendly waste management techniques and related facilities could also contribute to maximizing efficiency through establishing communication networks, prearranged agreements, and coordinated response plans to streamline debris management activities. From the immediate collapses, the subsequent demolitions, and the produced earthquake debris in southeastern Turkey, several vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the seismic performance of existing structures and infrastructures also emerged. This emergence may lead to improvements in designing more resilient practices, materials, and codes in the construction of buildings and infrastructure systems and subsequently in debris generation. All lessons learned from earthquake debris management in southeastern Turkey, including not only the correct but mainly the incorrect responses in removing, treating, and disposing of debris offer valuable feedback for decision-makers and stakeholders in evaluating the effectiveness of the existing and applied debris management plans and in pointing out areas that need improvement. The continuous improvement of the disaster prevention and management plans, including debris management strategies among others, can enhance the overall resilience of communities to future seismic events. A limitation of this research has to do with the total number of earthquake debris disposal sites in earthquake-affected southeastern Turkey as well as the number of sites we have analyzed and presented in this research and their representativeness.