On October 21, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended a presentation of projects for recycling household waste and producing electricity and products from it, the president’s press service reported.
Uzbekistan generates 14 million tons of waste annually. However, only 4-5 percent of it is recycled. Over 7 million tons of greenhouse gases and 43 thousand tons of toxic leachates generated at waste landfills are emitted into the atmosphere and penetrates into the soil.
By recycling waste, it is possible to both reduce its impact on nature and make a profit. To this end, the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, together with foreign investors, has developed several projects. It is planned to build 8 waste incineration plants and process landfill gas at Akhangaran landfill, investing about $1.3 billion.
Two plants will be built in Andijan and Tashkent regions by the Chinese company CAMC Engineering. They will process 4,000 tons of waste per day and generate 630 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
Another Chinese company, Shanghai SUS Environment, plans to invest $310 million in building two plants in Samarkand and Kashkadarya regions. The plants will process 3,000 tons of waste per day and generate 480 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
One plant for Bukhara and Navoi regions will be built at the expense of $200 million from the Tadweer Group of the United Arab Emirates. It will process 1.5 thousand tons of waste per day and produce 363 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
A $55 million project with the participation of Sejin of the Republic of Korea will generate electricity from gas generated at a landfill in Akhangaran district of Tashkent region. The plant’s capacity is expected to be 16 megawatts.
In general, the projects’ implementation will ensure the rational use of solid municipal waste. Over 4.7 million tons of waste will be burned annually, and 2.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity worth $97 million will be generated. This will also save 152 million cubic meters of natural gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.4 million tons.
The projects are planned to be implemented in 2025-2027.