Gov’t plans to close 200 landfills

The event, which was organized with the support of the Turkish government, UN programs on environment (UNEP) and on human settlements (UN-Habitat), was attended by Chairman of the Senate Committee on development of the Aral Sea region and ecology Boriy Alikhanov.

During his speech, he noted the adoption and consistent implementation of the concept of environmental protection and the strategy for the transition to a “green economy” until 2030, the tasks outlined in them to bring the coverage of the population with services for collection and removal of municipal solid waste to 100%, and increasing the level of processing of generated household waste up to 65%, as well as the widespread introduction of the principles of “circular economy”.

It was emphasized that these measures will reduce the volume of household waste disposal at landfills by up to 60%, completely reclaim the land of more than 200 landfills, turning them into green areas, and create new jobs.

At the meeting, the participants were informed that Uzbekistan in 2022 joined the global commitment to reduce methane emissions with the intention of reducing their volume by 30% by 2030. As a clear example of our country’s strong commitment to combating climate change, the launch of a project for processing of landfill gas into electricity at the two largest landfills was launched earlier this year in Uzbekistan for the first time in Central Asia.

Following the event, a number of proposals were put forward on joint mutually beneficial and efficient waste management, and Uzbekistan’s readiness to further develop cooperation with the UN and member states in the field of ensuring responsible production and consumption, including the promotion of “Zero Waste” initiative, was confirmed.