Astana, 27 October. The company Zhasyl Damu has allocated 122.6 billion tenge from recycling-fee revenue to finance 34 projects: building processing plants and sorting facilities and buying specialised vehicles, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources said.
In total the ministry's investment headquarters has approved 67 projects worth 440 billion tenge, so about half the projects and less than a third of the money have been financed. Of the financed projects, six are for sorting municipal solid waste with a total capacity of 650,000 tonnes a year, 18 for processing 435,000 tonnes a year, and 10 for buying 177 specialised vehicles.
So far 15 projects are operating: 131 vehicles have been bought, sorting lines for 290,000 tonnes of waste a year and processing plants with a total capacity of 19,300 tonnes a year have been commissioned. Most of the money went to projects in Almaty and the North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, Aktobe and Kostanay regions; they will process waste paper, PET bottles, tyres and other waste.
What it means: The recycling fee paid by producers and importers is starting to turn into capacity, but the gap is wide: of the 435,000 tonnes a year of processing announced, about 19,000 tonnes is actually operating.
Who benefits: Companies that received funding for processing; regions that are getting sorting lines. For producers and importers who pay the fee, the ministry is showing where their payments go.
Background: In Kazakhstan the recycling fee is paid by producers and importers of vehicles, packaging and a number of other goods; Zhasyl Damu, the operator of extended producer responsibility, channels this money into waste collection and processing.
