Over 300 Thousand Tons of Industrial Emissions Pollute the Air in Temirtau Annually

Press Release

Despite its relatively small population, the city of Temirtau ranks among the leaders in Kazakhstan in terms of air pollution levels. Over the past decade, Temirtau has consistently recorded a “high” level of air contamination. Each year, approximately 305 thousand tons of industrial emissions are released into the city’s atmosphere, the vast majority of which originate from the city-forming enterprise — the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant. 

Temirtau has a moderately cold climate, characterized by significant precipitation even during the dry season. 

Although the city’s population does not exceed 200,000 people, Temirtau remains one of the largest industrial and air-polluting cities in the country. The annual volume of industrial emissions is about 305 thousand tons. For comparison, in Almaty, with a population of over 2.3 million, annual emissions amount to 232 thousand tons.

More than 80% of total industrial emissions come from Qarmet JSC. The main pollutants emitted by the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant, owned by this company, include nitrogen and sulfur dioxides, phenol, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide. 

Air quality monitoring in Temirtau is carried out at 4 stationary monitoring posts:  

- 3 manual sampling posts, where air samples are collected three times a day and analyzed for 14 indicators: 1) suspended particles (dust); 2) sulfur dioxide; 3) nitrogen dioxide; 4) carbon monoxide; 5) hydrogen sulfide; 6) phenol; 7) ammonia; 8) nitrogen oxide; 9) mercury (PNZ No. 5). Heavy metals: 10) cadmium; 11) copper; 12) arsenic; 13) lead; 14) chromium.

- 1 automatic air monitoring station, where data are recorded every 20 minutes for 8 parameters: 1) suspended particles PM2.5; 2) suspended particles PM10; 3) sulfur dioxide; 4) carbon monoxide; 5) nitrogen dioxide; 6) nitrogen oxide; 7) hydrogen sulfide; 8) ammonia.

Two indices are used to assess air quality: 

- Atmospheric Pollution Index (API) – an indicator that accounts for the concentrations of several key pollutants and their impact on human health. It uses average daily or annual concentrations to determine the level of chronic air pollution;

- Standard Index (SI) – an indicator calculated by dividing the highest single measured concentration of a pollutant by its maximum permissible concentration. It helps identify the most significant pollutant at a specific station or city and is used to assess short-term air contamination.

According to data from RSE “Kazhydromet”, the Atmospheric Pollution Index in Temirtau for the years 2015–2021 and 2023–2024 (API = 9.1; 9.3) was assessed as “high”. The air pollution level in 2022 was also assessed as “high” according to the Standard Index.

In 2023, monitoring posts recorded 5,879 cases of exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances, while in 2024, 1,414 cases were registered. The largest share of pollutants consists of suspended particles (dust, PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and phenol.

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.