Solutions without billions: how waste recycling can become a source of income

When these materials break down, they release pollutants that harm our health and speed up climate change.

A UNEP report says that by 2050, solid household waste will reach 3.8 billion tonnes. Waste is the third-largest human-made source of methane, making up about 11 percent of global methane emissions.

Sources: 1) Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2) Methane emissions (European comission: Energy, Climate change, Environment), 3) What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-03) Hoornweg, Daniel; Bhada-Tata, Perinaz

Kazakhstan currently ranks near the bottom in global waste recycling statistics, placing 175th out of 179 countries assessed, with a recycling rate of only 3.8 percent. To ameliorate this situation and address the negative consequences of ineffective waste management, the country has begun to use GPS tracking for garbage trucks, increased penalties for illegal dumping, offered special loans for recycling equipment, launched the ‘EcoQoldau’ program for certain businesses, and begun projects to utilize landfill gas.

Illegal dumping remains a major environmental problem in both cities and rural areas. This happens when there is no organized system for managing waste, if local authorities do not have sufficient capacity to monitor, and when people are insufficiently aware of the environmental issues that result from improper waste management. The trouble with illegal dumping is larger than solely greenhouse gasses. Waste also pollutes soil and groundwater, which harms plants and animals and can contribute to disease transmission. 

Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Madina Kakimzhanova

Despite these challenges, solutions are possible. In the village of Aksu in southern Kazakhstan’s Sairam district, one illegal dump became the start point for real change. A local resident, Vladislav Golyarko, built a functioning local waste management system. He is not an environmentalist by profession, but he cares deeply about the issue. Vladislav turned a problem into a resource, engaged the community, and created a model that could work across the country.

“We lived on the first floor of an apartment building, and our windows faced an illegal dump. The stench was awful, and animals roamed constantly. Residents of our building and neighbouring ones kept adding to it, and the pile grew larger and larger. I started looking for ways to clean up the dump, organize it, and ultimately change the approach to waste disposal,” Vladislav recalls.

Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Samat Myrzaliyev

He has experienced hardship himself. In the early 1990s, a very difficult time in Kazakhstan, his mother lost her job and could not support him. To make sure he survived, she had to send him to an orphanage, where he stayed for two years.

“My mother raised me alone. At that time, there was no work, no money, no food. It was so hard to survive that she made the difficult decision to send me to an orphanage. There, I studied in grades 4 and 5. Later, I returned to my school, graduated, and joined the army. That experience deeply influenced my life,”

Vladislav says.

Today, he is an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and founder of the public association ‘Istoki Dobra’ (‘Sources of Good’). Over time, he has made his idea a reality and helped numerous members of his community.

It all started when he joined the youth NGO ’Alpamys’ which, with international grant support, organized community events.

“After the army, I came back home. My mother, who worked as a journalist for a local newspaper, told me about an NGO recruiting volunteers, including former residents of an orphanage. I signed up and began helping organize sports events. At the same time, I worked as a security guard. Gradually, I got involved in community work, attended many trainings on how to distinguish goals from tasks, defend projects, write grant applications, and present ideas,”

Vladislav explains.

In 2017, he registered his own public association. Its mission was to collect and recycle waste, thereby making life better in the village. That’s when Vladislav thought of turning the dump into a marketplace for recyclables, like a hub for secondary raw materials. First, he had to set up collection points and put up fences and containers. Vladislav applied for a grant from the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme. Upon receiving funding, his team started working.

“You can’t solve this problem alone, you need to involve residents. But few will sort waste just for the sake of it, so I proposed a system where people benefit, for example, financially. After installing special containers, people began separating plastic, glass, and paper. We collected everything for recycling. The money from recyclables went to the building’s account and was used for repairs, landscaping, and cleaning,” he says.

At first, the villagers were unsure, but when they saw actual payments begin flowing, they got involved. Next, Vladislav suggested making apartment buildings more energy efficient. They used the money earned to install LED lights in the hallways, which fixed the lighting problem.

After the project succeeded in one village, Vladislav wanted to expand it to the whole Sairam district. This led to the creation of a mobile app.

Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Samat Myrzaliyev

“We launched the app last year. It works like a taxi service: businesses that accept waste and residents who have accumulated waste find each other. A resident uploads a photo and a request, and the company then collects it. The price ranges from 25 to 30 tenge per kilogram (≈US$0.04-0.05). Later, companies clean the waste and sell it to factories for about 100 tenge (≈$0.20),” he explains.

Now, in addition to apartment buildings, about 1,000 people and more than 170 businesses in the district take part, including 11 schools. The largest initiative is at a local school named after M. Gorky, which has 2,300 students. Each week, Vladislav collects cans, glass, notebooks, and paper. The school has used the money earned to install LED lights everywhere.

“We need to change behaviour and attitudes toward waste. Patriotic slogans alone don’t work. You have to lead by example, create conditions and infrastructure that make sorting the norm. Only then does culture change.”

With his partners, Vladislav expanded the project. Now paper, metal, plastic, and glass are all sorted and sent to recycling plants. Today, 12 people work in the production site, where they clean, press, and prepare the waste for shipping.

“We prepare waste carefully for recycling. Dry, clean paper costs more, so we remove tape, staples, and strings from boxes. We plan to collect and send for recycling over 320 tonnes of wastes this year,” Vladislav shares.

He wants to turn the project into a ‘green’ budget, where recycling generates revenue to help cover waste collection costs. Vladislav’s idea is that one company would collect recyclables from homes or sorting points, and another would collect non-recyclables. The sorted materials are then sold to factories, made into new products, and the profits are shared among recyclers, local authorities, and residents.

“I hope such a system will be implemented at the state level. This transformation will reduce landfill pressure and local budget strain, while increasing separate waste collection. People will be able to live sustainably—if they meet sorting norms, they won’t have to pay for waste removal. Local authorities can direct part of the proceeds to waste collection companies and part to the local budget,”

Vladislav says.

For Vladislav, this is more than just a recycling project. It’s a way of life. 

“The system we built in the district works: residents are engaged, waste is sorted, resources return to the economy. I want these models included in state programs, especially in rural areas. They don’t require billions but deliver real results.”

 

Local Action = Global Impact           

SGP has been providing financial and technical support to civil society and community-based organizations at the local level to drive initiatives that address global environmental issues while improving livelihoods for over 30 years. Since 1997, it has supported 374 projects throughout Kazakhstan in the areas of biodiversity, land degradation, climate change, chemicals and waste, and international waters.

For more details on SGP’s work in the country, visit the SGP Kazakhstan page.

For information on SGP’s global portfolio, visit the global SGP website.