A conflict has erupted in the Akmola region over a rubbish dump organised by the company Zero Waste LLP in a quarry near the village of Koyandy. Two environmental protection departments – the regional and the capital’s – gave opposing assessments of the legality of its operations.
The Ministry of Ecology has revealed details of the situation, pointing to the lack of necessary permits for the dump’s operators.
As a reminder, in early December the editorial board of FBRK reported that waste trucks from the company "Zero Waste" were dumping rubbish in a quarry near the village of Koyandy, Tselinograd district, Akmola region, instead of taking it to a waste processing plant.
It turned out that in October, "Zero Waste" signed a contract for the acceptance of solid household waste (MSW) with Sole Trader "Marushchak Vitaly Viktorovich", who had leased a plot for waste sorting from the entrepreneur Yerlan Ryskulov.
We sent official requests to a number of government bodies asking them to conduct an inspection of the fact of waste dumping at an unauthorised location. In response, we received contradictory replies from two environmental protection departments - those of Akmola region and Astana.
The Department of Ecology of Akmola region found violations and drew up an administrative report against the landowner for operating without an environmental permit. However, the Environmental Protection Department of Astana deemed the dump legal, calling it an "alternative point" for accepting MSW.
Our editorial board then contacted the Ministry of Ecology asking for an assessment of the contradictory responses from the regional bodies. As the Ministry reported, neither "Zero Waste" LLP nor Sole Trader "Marushchak V.V." hold the necessary permits for the acceptance and disposal of waste. Moreover, the contract between them was valid only until the end of 2024 and was not renewed.
Furthermore, it was reported that the Tselinograd District Court dropped the case against the landowner Ryskulov, recognising that he personally was not involved in the acceptance and processing of MSW.
Following this, the regional department of ecology initiated administrative proceedings against Sole Trader "Marushchak V.V." and launched an investigation into the legality of his activities. Simultaneously, the department started the process for returning the land plot to state ownership.
The Ministry of Ecology refrained from assessing the actions of the capital’s Environmental Protection Department, citing the recent expansion of local authorities' powers in the field of waste management.
At the same time, it was reported that the akimat of Astana has introduced a digital monitoring system for waste collection, which allows tracking the routes of rubbish trucks and monitoring the quality of work in real time.
Meanwhile, the editorial board of FBRK has uncovered unexpected details about the history of the land plot where the illegal dump was created. It turns out that in just a few years its legal status changed several times, and the owners carried out a series of questionable transactions.