Despite the Presence of Industrial Giants, Pavlodar’s Air Quality Remains Better Than in Some Small Cities

Press Release

Pavlodar, one of Kazakhstan’s largest industrial centers, is home to major enterprises such as oil refining, aluminum, electrolytic, chemical, cardboard and roofing materials, mechanical engineering, and pipe-rolling plants. Nevertheless, the city’s environmental situation is more favorable compared to smaller industrial cities such as Temirtau, Balkhash, and Ridder. In the regional center, with a population of about 370,000 people, the level of atmospheric air pollution has been classified as “low” in 7 of the past 10 years, and only in 2018, 2022, and 2023 was it rated as “elevated.”.

Pavlodar is located on the banks of the Irtysh River, the longest and most voluminous river in the country. The city’s climate is moderate and sharply continental.

The city hosts large industrial enterprises such as JSC “Aluminium of Kazakhstan”, JSC “Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant”, LLP “Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant”, as well as three combined heat and power plants (CHPs), JSC “Caustic”, LLP “KSP Steel”, the Pavlodar Machine-Building Plant, and the Pavlodar Cardboard and Roofing Materials Plant, among others.

The main industrial facilities are concentrated in the eastern and northern parts of the city. Prevailing winds in Pavlodar are from the west (22.3%), southwest (16.9%), south (16.8%), and northwest (13.4%). As a result, for most of the year, the city receives clean air masses from the Irtysh River floodplain.

Atmospheric air monitoring in Pavlodar is carried out at 7 stationary posts:

• at 2 posts, manual air sampling is conducted three times per day for 9 parameters: 1) suspended particles (dust), 2) nitrogen dioxide, 3) nitrogen oxide, 4) sulfur dioxide, 5) carbon monoxide, 6) hydrogen sulfide, 7) phenol, 8) chlorine, 9) hydrogen chloride;
• at 5 automatic air monitoring stations, data are recorded every 20 minutes for 9 indicators: 1) ammonia, 2) fine particulate matter PM2.5, 3) particulate matter PM10, 4) nitrogen dioxide, 5) sulfur dioxide, 6) nitrogen oxide, 7) carbon monoxide, 8) hydrogen sulfide, 9) ground-level ozone.

Two indices are used to assess air quality:

• Air Pollution Index (API) – an indicator that accounts for the concentrations of several key pollutants and their effects on human health. It is based on average daily or annual concentrations and reflects the level of chronic air
  pollution;
• Standard Index (SI) – an indicator representing the highest measured single concentration of a pollutant divided by its maximum allowable concentration (MAC). It helps identify the most significant pollutant at a specific monitoring post or within the city and is used to assess short-term air pollution.

According to RSE “Kazhydromet”, the Air Pollution Index in 2015–2017, 2019–2021, and 2024 was assessed as “low” (API 2.0–4.3), while in 2018 it was rated as “elevated” (API 5.0). The level of atmospheric air pollution in 2022–2023,
based on the Standard Index, was assessed as “elevated.”

In 2023, monitoring posts recorded 2,073 cases of exceeding the maximum allowable concentrations of harmful substances, and 1,792 cases in 2024. The major pollutants include carbon and nitrogen oxides, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride, and suspended particles (dust).

As previously reported, the Regional Ecological Summit is scheduled to be held in Astana from April 22 to 24, 2026, where the environmental challenges of the Central Asian countries and possible solutions will be discussed.