Waste management in Kazakhstan: a long-standing issue

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The introduction of extended obligations of manufacturers and importers was discussed at NCE

At the round table at the National chamber of entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" got together the representatives of state bodies, specialized enterprises for waste management, producers (importers) of products, industry associations and NGOs, as well as LLP "Operator EPR (extended producer’s responsibility)". All organizations expressed their proposals for the introduction of EPR in Kazakhstan, the dialogue took place.

According to the Executive Director of the Kazakhstani Association of waste management Vera Mustafina, EPR was adopted on the legislative level, the practical application begins. It was decided to start with the recycling of cars. "spare parts of cars that are still fit to work, or separate materials: plastic, glass, metal, tires, etc. can all be used to produce the same product or any other," said Mustafina.
According to the head of the Secretariat of the Committee of information and communication technologies and "green economy" Nuraly Bukeikhanov, in Kazakhstan, according to statistics, there are 1426 waste management enterprises, of which more than 80 are active and pay taxes. "According to KazWaste, there are three companies that can recycle cars in our country. However, current capacity is insufficient, so not all cars are disposed and pollute our environment. In this regard, there was introduced the principle of extended producer’s responsibility, or EPR. EPR is a fee that is paid by importers and manufacturers to a private company - operator. It, in turn, works with other companies that recycle waste," - he said.

Bukeikhanov also stressed that the position of NCE RK is that the Kazakhstan enterprises for waste disposal were given the opportunity to participate in the work of the EPR operator. "At the moment it is a monopoly due to the fact that the project is a pilot. However, we think that we shouldn’t push these companies from the market, and after the development of certain standards, they need to be the part of EPR system and to enter into long-term contracts", - said the representative of the Chamber.

"The main principle we adhere to is not to load unnecessarily the enterprises themselves, i.e. that the principle of EPR is introduced upon their readiness", he added.
According to Bukeyhanov, development of the recycling market was prevented by two problems - a lack of utilization capacity and lack of incentives. "Our companies have no incentive to use recycled materials. Now any production that uses more than 30% of recycled materials, is exempt from EPR fee", he said.
The Director of the Department of waste management of the Ministry of energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhan Nurbekov, in turn, reported that 5-6 million tons of municipal waste are generated annually in Kazakhstan, 90 thousand tons are used of it is used for secondary raw materials, i.e. about 2%. The rest is buried in landfills. "The main task for Kazakhstan today is to recycle as much as possible. If we will recycle 40% out of 5-6 million tonnes, then it will be up to 48 billion tenge", said Nurbekov.

The head of the Department of mechanical engineering of the Committee of the industrial development and industrial safety of the Ministry for investment and development of Kazakhstan Serik Rakhimov noted that Kazakhstan has a very old car park. About 70% of the vehicles operate for over 10 years. According to him, in addition to environmental concerns, the introduction of EPR is also due to the interaction of Kazakhstan within the EAEU.