President Shavkat Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with the presentations on recycling domestic waste, and projects for producing electricity and products from them here.
Every year, our country produces 14 million tons of waste. However, only 4-5 percent of this is recycled. More than 7 million tons of greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere from waste landfills, and 43,000 tons of toxic leachate seep into the ground.
Recycling waste can both reduce its impact on the environment and be profitable. For this purpose, a series of projects have been developed in collaboration with foreign investors by the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change. With nearly 1.3 billion dollars in investments, it is planned to build 8 waste-to-energy plants and a waste gas processing plant at the Ohangaron landfill.
For instance, through the direct investment of 350 million dollars from China's “CAMC Engineering” company, two plants will be constructed in the Andijan and Tashkent regions. These will recycle 4,000 tons of waste per day, producing 630 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
Another Chinese company, “Shanghai SUS Environment”, has also shown interest in this sector. By investing 310 million dollars directly, it plans to build two plants in the Samarkand and Kashkadarya regions. These will recycle 3,000 tons of waste per day, generating 480 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
A plant for the Bukhara and Navoi regions will be built with a 200 million dollar investment from the United Arab Emirates' “Tadweer Group”. This will create the capacity to recycle 1,500 tons of waste per day and produce 363 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
The project involving the Republic of Korea's “Sejin” company is also very important. Accordingly, with an investment of 55 million dollars, a facility to generate alternative electricity from the gas produced at the domestic waste landfill in the Ohangaron district of Tashkent region will be established. It is intended to have a capacity of 16 megawatts.
In general, the projects will ensure the efficient use of solid domestic waste. More than 4.7 million tons of waste will be incinerated annually, producing 2.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. 97 million US dollars worth of electricity will be sold. Furthermore, these processes will save 152 million cubic meters of natural gas and reduce 2.4 million tons of greenhouse gases. 1,200 new jobs will be created.
The projects are planned to be implemented between 2025 and 2027 in Andijan, Bukhara, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Navoi, Namangan, Samarkand, Syrdarya, Fergana, Tashkent regions, and Tashkent city.
The head of our state emphasized the social significance of the projects.
– These are not just factories, but one of the matters determining life and death. The suitability of our land and water, the health of the population, the cleanliness of the air, and the stability of energy, all depend on this sector. If waste is properly collected and more is recycled, the ecological balance will improve, nature will become cleaner, and society will change, – stated Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Therefore, instructions were given to the responsible persons to make these projects exemplary and to increase their number in the regions.
Now, investors and manufacturers, first of all, think about their enterprise's energy supply. Therefore, it was noted that it is appropriate to locate new enterprises such as construction materials and organic fertilizers near waste recycling plants. This will be beneficial for both entrepreneurs and investors.
The task of developing a “road map” for expanding and evenly developing such projects across all regions has been assigned.
This sector is steadily being improved in our country. By the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated September 26 this year, the Agency for Waste Management and Circular Economy Development was established.
The Agency deals with collecting, sorting, detoxifying, recycling, incinerating, utilizing, and disposing of waste using modern methods. Thanks to the development of the circular economy in this field, the ecological situation will stabilize, the sanitary condition will improve, and the risk of dangerous diseases to the population will decrease. Waste will be recycled to produce alternative energy, raw materials, and organic fertilizers. Eco-industrial zones will be established in the territories of existing waste landfills.
