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Sector of Opportunity: Waste Treatment in Kazakhstan

7-proyectos
ACIR Southern Europe
04/07/2022
Waste treatment in Kazakhstan is a sector with high expectations for Spanish and Southern European companies. According to official figures, the country is not yet managing this issue effectively, which creates an urgent demand for products and services that can regulate the situation and offer future alternatives.
In the following article, learn about the experience of the ACIR project office in the country and the opportunities available for Spanish companies in this field.

An incipient market in need of technology

In the waste treatment sector, Kazakhstan has traditionally been characterized by elementary waste management procedures. The sector remains underdeveloped, and government efforts to manage waste—which has already reached concerning volumes—remain inefficient.
However, since 2013, the country has initiated a transition toward a “green economy” and has set goals focused on strengthening waste treatment measures. To achieve this, it was established that the annual recycling rate must reach 40% by 2030 and 50% by 2050. Consequently, in the so-called “million-plus” cities (those with a population exceeding one million), laws were enacted to promote material sorting and to ban the landfilling of materials such as plastics, paper, and metals. The objective is to achieve the treatment of 100% of generated waste, a 70% processing rate for that waste, and the standardization of procedures nationwide by 2030 to meet the proposed goals.

Waste treatment projects in Kazakhstan

Among the main objectives set by the Kazakh government are the creation of new treatment landfills and the modernization of existing ones. In this regard, the following projects stand out:
  • Program for the modernization of the municipal solid waste management system in the city of Semey.
  • Program for the modernization of the solid waste management system in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk.
  • Pilot project to organize the separate collection of solid waste.
  • Construction of two waste sorting plants in the landfill areas of Atyrau.
  • Construction of waste-to-energy incineration plants in 6 cities: Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Shymkent, Atyrau, Taraz, and Aktobe.
  • Plan to create a waste-to-energy plant.
  • Services for the collection, transport, storage, and disposal of medical waste in the city of Nur-Sultan.
  • Public-private partnership project to organize an integrated waste management system in the city of Nur-Sultan.

These are just a few projects in which our project office is already working by maintaining contact with those in charge and reviewing the specifications for participation. These efforts are complemented by connections established with the funding bodies of most of these projects: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as the Asian Development Bank.
Likewise, regular meetings are held with local and national authorities to present the cooperation opportunities offered by Spanish companies and to understand the demand of the Kazakh market in the coming months.
If you are interested in exploring collaboration options in this sector in depth, do not hesitate to contact us.
 

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