Six waste incineration plants will be built in Uzbekistan with a total cost of $933 million. Enterprises will appear in Andijan, Namangan, Fergana, Samarkand, Kashkadarya and Tashkent regions. Once launched, they will be able to annually process 3.6 million tons of solid waste and generate 1.6 billion kWh of electricity, writes Gazeta.uz.
Such plans were announced at a meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, dedicated to measures in the field of environmental protection and the development of a waste management system.
In the presentation submitted to the head of state, it was noted that in 2025, 88% of mahallas were covered by sanitary cleaning. Specialized equipment, scooters and containers were supplied to the industry, the areas around 132 landfills were improved, and the work of 47 landfills was stopped.
In 2026, the coverage of sanitation services is planned to increase to 90%. For this purpose, the enterprises will be given another 300 units of special equipment, 80 scooters and 600 containers. Reclamation of 18 landfills is also planned. The authorities expect to reduce the number of landfills to 32.6%, and by 2030 to halve their number.
Another direction is reducing logistics costs and reducing the load on landfills. To achieve this, it is planned to build 28 waste transfer stations in 2026, and 70 by 2030. According to Deputy Director of the Waste Management Agency Shukhrat Haydar, such stations will reduce the costs of sanitary treatment enterprises and reduce the distance of waste transportation.
Projects for the production of electricity from household waste were discussed separately. The President was reported on the progress of construction of six such plants. One of the projects is already being implemented in Samarkand together with the Chinese company Shanghai SUS Environment. The SUS Environment Samarkand plant is being built on the territory of the central testing site in the Navruz mahalla. 15 hectares of the 100 hectare landfill have been allocated for the enterprise. The launch of the facility is expected in early 2027.
It is planned that the Samarkand plant will process 1.5 thousand tons of waste per day and produce 240 million kWh of electricity per year. The agency stated that due to this, 70% of the population of Samarkand and 27% of the residents of the Pastdargam region will be able to provide electricity.
Director of the Agency for Waste Management and Circular Economy Development Sharifbek Khasanov announced plans to build five more waste incineration plants in the most difficult regions together with investors. Their total cost is estimated at $633 million.
At the same time, environmentalists draw attention to the possible risks of waste incineration plants: the need for fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions and the relatively small amount of energy generated. Representatives of the agency, in turn, say that after combustion, the ash will be processed into construction materials, and the smoke will be purified using water from the Dargam Canal.
A new format for waste collection is also being tested in Samarkand: electric and gasoline scooters have begun to be used in the city center between the Koshkhavuz and Urguti mahallas. Two scooters were assigned to each mahalla; in total, the city received 70 units of equipment. In the future, they plan to gradually introduce such a system of mini-garbage trucks in all urban areas of the country.
