Investment in the environment seen a 74% growth within this year
In 2018, 2.8 million tons of municipal waste were collected in Kazakhstan, 5.4% down compared to the previous year (3 million tons), including 74.1% of household waste, 12.5% of production waste, 9.7% of street trash, and 2.1% of market waste, Finprom.kz reports.
Last year saw the officially registered landfills receive 3.4 million tons of municipal waste, 69.3% of which was received for further sequestration, 18.2% was sorted and sent for further processing, and 12.5% was disposed. Over 46.7 million tons of waste was accumulated at the officially operating landfills at the end 2018.
Nowadays the country is facing an acute problem regarding the amount of generated waste that need recycling of note. As of the 3rd quarter of 2019, the share of solid waste processing has amounted to 13.2%, against the plan of 14% (in 2016 - 2.6%, in 2017 - 9%, in 2018 - 11.5%). Presently, more than 170 enterprises in the field of solid domestic waste run across the country. In particular, out of 204 cities and regions, separate collection at different stages is introduced in 51, and sorting in 30 settlements.
Since last year, there has been a significant increase in investments aimed at protecting the environment. Following 10 months of this year, the amount of investments in the sector stood at 106.5 billion tenge, by 74.1% more than in the corresponding period a year earlier (61.1 billion tenge). In 2018, investment rose by 2.5-fold, reaching 80.2 billion tenge.
New technologies for waste processing are of significance. In Kazakhstan, the following technologies are used: the production of cardboard and paper from recycled materials, polymer-composite manholes and wells from plastic waste, mechanical crushing of tires, high-temperature combustion of sawdust and shavings, etc.
This November saw Kazakhstan launching a single platform to sale and purchase various types of waste and secondary resources called KazWaste Exchange, providing a convenient search for buyers and suppliers of various types of waste in Kazakhstan and the CIS. The site has already registered processing companies that are ready to buy recycled materials. Next year, a mobile app will be available in a bid to optimize the platform. The goal of the waste exchange is to create strong ties between the regions, increase the share of waste processing and unite all industry companies on one platform.
