Recently, Uzbek media reported that Uzbekistan will become the first country in Central Asia to convert household waste into electricity. The neighbors plan to launch waste recycling facilities by 2027. This is reported by Spot with reference to the presidential press service. However, Kyrgyzstan is ready to launch a similar plant at the end of this year. Therefore, we can claim leadership in this matter.

Recently, the mayor of the capital, Aibek Junushaliev, showcased the progress of constructing this remarkable plant to journalists, which is being built on the territory of the Bishkek sanitary landfill on an area of 12 hectares. The facility is an eco-technological plant for processing solid household waste and generating electricity. City authorities have promised to have it operational by the end of this year.

At the construction site in Bishkek, work has already begun on building an administrative building and the main production facility. Additionally, an access road to the plant is under construction, with over a thousand meters already completed. A temporary dormitory for 500 workers has also been built.

The first phase of construction includes launching the plant with a processing capacity of 1,000 tons of waste per day, enabling the generation of up to 460 MWh of electricity daily. In the future, the plant's capacity is expected to increase to process 3,000 tons of solid waste per day.

The total investment in the project amounts to approximately $95 million.

Notably, in both our country and neighboring Uzbekistan, the foreign investors are Chinese companies. According to Uzbek experts, the country generates 14 million tons of waste annually. Landfills accumulate over 7 million tons of greenhouse gases and 43,000 tons of toxic substances. Uzbekistan's Ministry of Ecology has developed projects totaling $1.3 billion, aimed at waste recycling and its use for electricity production. Several Chinese companies are ready to invest in building plants in six regions of the country. It is expected that by 2027, the launch of these facilities will save more than 150 million cubic meters of natural gas.

Perhaps all the countries in our region have been facing a serious energy crisis in recent years due to the aging energy infrastructure, driven primarily by rapid population growth and a sharp increase in demand for energy resources. This situation has developed across virtually all countries in the region. Consequently, both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are taking significant steps to address this issue. Waste recycling and energy production will become an important step in tackling environmental and energy challenges.