Dirty Air and Waste – the Main Environmental Problems of Kazakhstan
The main environmental challenges in Kazakhstan are air pollution and waste generation. In recent years, a consistently high level of air pollution has been recorded not only in industrial cities but also in Astana and Almaty. Thousands of unauthorized landfills appear annually across the country. Experts from the Central Asia Climate Foundation analyzed the environmental situation in the country and the measures being taken to address existing problems.
The issue of air pollution in Kazakhstan is becoming more acute every year. High and very high levels of air pollution have been recorded in 24 settlements. While in Astana and Almaty the poor air quality is mainly caused by emissions from thermal power plants, stove heating, and vehicle exhaust, in Karaganda, Temirtau, Balkhash, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Zhezkazgan it is primarily due to industrial emissions from JSC Qarmet, LLP Kazzinc, and LLP Kazakhmys Smelting.
The main pollutants in Kazakhstan’s cities include suspended particles (dust), carbon and nitrogen oxides, sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, phenols, and ozone.
To prevent the negative impact of industrial enterprises on atmospheric air, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter – MENR) annually reduces emission standards as part of the issuance of environmental permits.
As part of the transition to Best Available Techniques, in 2025 three enterprises were granted integrated environmental permits, the implementation of which will reduce emissions by 2035.
According to MENR, a number of enterprises plan to make significant investments in reducing emissions. For example, the ERG group of companies intends to allocate 228 billion tenge over the next 10 years to cut particulate matter emissions by 56% (67 thousand tons), reduce discharges by 30%, lower water consumption by 33%, and recycle up to 2 million tons of secondary materials obtained from production waste.
To ensure control over industrial emissions, work is underway to implement an Automated Emission Monitoring System (hereinafter – AEMS), with data transmitted online to the National Environmental and Natural Resources Database. This not only allows for prompt detection of violations but also significantly increases the reliability and transparency of environmental information.
According to MENR, AEMS has been installed at 77 enterprises (83%) out of 91.
Due to lack of financial resources, 14 municipal and energy enterprises in 8 regions of the country have not yet installed AEMS. Regional akimats (Ulytau, Pavlodar, Akmola, Abai, North Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, as well as the cities of Astana and Almaty) have developed roadmaps for installing AEMS at municipal enterprises.
As part of state control over the environmental situation and minimizing the harmful impact of industry on the environment, preventive inspections with and without visiting entities (facilities) are conducted annually.
Thus, in the first half of 2025, the State Environmental Inspectorate carried out 511 inspections, identified 1,551 violations, and issued 844 orders. A total of 1,414 administrative fines amounting to 17.1 billion tenge were imposed.
In accordance with tax legislation, emission charges from stationary sources are established for 16 of the most hazardous and widespread pollutants, ensuring their effective regulation and minimization.
For excessive emissions or emissions without an environmental permit, for which no charge rate has been set, higher charges are applied: 50 MCI per 1 ton of pollutant emissions or 1,200 MCI per 1 ton of pollutant discharges.
In recent years, the problem of unauthorized landfills in Kazakhstan has also significantly worsened. Since 2019, MENR together with JSC NC Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary has been monitoring and eliminating unauthorized landfills. Space-based monitoring of production and consumption waste is conducted from March to November.
Thanks to systematic work with local authorities and law enforcement agencies, there has been steady positive progress.
In 2020, 8,884 landfills were identified (66% eliminated), in 2021 – 7,328 (92% eliminated), in 2022 – 5,683 (77% eliminated), in 2023 – 5,533 (86% eliminated), and in 2024 – 4,886 (93% eliminated).
As of today, 2,714 unauthorized landfills have been recorded nationwide, of which 965 (35%) have been eliminated. Cleanup work will continue until December.
For violations of environmental requirements regarding the accumulation, collection, transportation, accounting, recovery, disposal, and neutralization of waste, administrative liability was imposed on officials of local executive bodies: in 2022 – 194 officials, total fines of 17.8 million tenge; in 2023 – 152 officials, total fines of 17.3 million tenge; in 2024 – 164 officials, total fines of 9.3 million tenge; and in 2025 – 60 officials, total fines of 10.5 million tenge.
The Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan” dated January 10, 2025, introduced stricter liability for the creation of illegal landfills, including the confiscation of vehicles and other items used as tools in repeated violations.
