Kazakhstan and Chinese investors have signed an agreement under which three waste incineration plants will be built in Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent. Acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Zhomart Aliyev announced an investment volume of 293 billion tenge and a construction period of two years at a government meeting on Tuesday.
“To dispose of non-recyclable waste, it is planned to build plants in the capital and major cities. This year we signed the necessary investment agreements with Chinese partners. The total investment amount will be 293 billion tenge, and the project implementation period is two years,” emphasized Aliyev.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Ecology, taking into account design, land allocation, and communication setup, construction is planned for 2026-2028.
As part of the waste management concept for 2026-2030, funding is provided for the construction of modern landfills for solid household waste. This will be carried out through recycling payments, similar to waste recycling projects. A review of tariffs with indexing every three years and the introduction of tax benefits and subsidies to improve the system of extended producer and importer responsibility is also planned.
Aliyev noted that the ministry is already actively working on creating the necessary infrastructure. Under the preferential financing mechanism launched last year, JSC "Zhasyl Damu" has approved 60 projects in the field of waste management. Of these, 22 projects have already received funding totaling 89.4 billion tenge, with the total volume of the mechanism amounting to 185 billion tenge.
Of the 60 approved projects, eight are aimed at acquiring 92 garbage trucks, 19 projects relate to waste sorting with a total capacity of 2.3 million tons per year, and 33 projects are associated with recycling with a capacity of 920 thousand tons per year. The implementation of these projects is expected to ensure a 40% recycling rate, as indicated in the program documents.
For the successful execution of the concept, it is necessary to strengthen the institutional structure of waste management. This can be achieved by granting JSC "Zhasyl Damu" the status of a national waste management center, which will improve the digitalization of the industry, create reliable statistics, control waste movement, and ensure transparency for businesses and investors. Thus, a foundation will be laid for transitioning to a modern, standardized, and efficient waste management system,” added Aliyev.
It is expected that the implementation of the concept will allow for a 100% inventory of all types of waste, except for radioactive waste, increasing the volume of secondary production waste by 10% and reducing the volume of municipal waste sent to landfills by at least 10%.
Source: Vlast
