WHEN WILL THE WASTE PROBLEM IN JIZZAKH BE SOLVED?

WHEN WILL THE WASTE PROBLEM IN JIZZAKH BE SOLVED?

Globally, approximately $25 \cdot 10^9\text{ tons}$ of waste are generated annually. This is largely due to the fact that today, 60 chemical elements and dozens of types of natural mineral resources are used worldwide for various industrial, defense, domestic, scientific, and other purposes. In advanced countries (USA, Japan, Germany, etc.), per capita consumption of mineral resources ranges from 15 to 20 tons per year, while the global average has reached 8 tons per year per person—more than quadrupling over the past century.

In Uzbekistan alone, there are 186 landfills containing 33.4 million tons of buried waste. Additionally, 566 unauthorized dump sites were registered in 2016, where approximately 15.3 thousand tons of various wastes are dumped daily. To address this issue, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a resolution on April 21, "On measures for the radical improvement and development of the waste management system for 2017–2021". The document is aimed at resolving issues related to solid domestic waste collection and promoting private entrepreneurial activity in this field. Measures are currently being taken to tackle the waste problem in every region of the country. Specifically, in the Jizzakh region, located in the central part of Uzbekistan, there are 10 waste landfills, but almost none of them meet standard requirements. Renovation work has begun on 4 of them.

Khokimiyat of Jizzakh Region

The Jizzakh region is located in the central part of Uzbekistan between the Syr Darya and Zeravshan rivers. The total area of the region is 20,500 km². The climate is continental and arid, with hot summers and moderately cold winters. It borders the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Syrdarya region to the north, the Republic of Tajikistan to the southeast, and the Navoiy and Samarkand regions to the west. The region is divided into 12 administrative districts (tumanns). Currently, more than 1,300,000 people reside in the region.

— "Currently, in accordance with Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 315, waste management issues should be handled by specialized sanitary cleaning enterprises as well as municipal and district landscaping departments," says Bunyod Egamov, head of the Land and Water Resource Protection and Waste Control Inspection under the Jizzakh Regional Department of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Ecology and Environmental Protection. — "However, non-compliance with these requirements—specifically the untimely removal of trash—has led to the emergence of numerous illegal dumpsites across the cities and districts of the region. To eliminate this issue, State Unitary Enterprises 'Toza Khudud' are being established pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 2916. They will be responsible for transporting solid domestic waste from collection points to landfills and clearing septic tanks. Currently, 5 small enterprises for solid waste recycling are registered in Jizzakh, but none of them are operational yet. There are no waste paper recycling plants in the region. After collecting secondary paper waste from the public, entrepreneurs transport it to Tashkent for processing. For now, only LLC 'Jizzakh Advantage Plus' is operating, producing coal briquettes from coal powder. All chemical production waste is transported by JSC 'Jizzakhagrokimyo' to a specialized landfill located in the Egizbulak citizens' assembly area in the Farish district. The 5-hectare landfill is located 6 kilometers away from the nearest residential area, and reconstruction work is currently underway there."

If we look at the composition of the solid municipal waste delivered to the landfill, it consists of general household waste. Unfortunately, there are no facilities in the region to recycle solid and electronic household waste. To resolve this pressing issue, the Khokim of Jizzakh Region issued Decree No. 227 on May 6, 2017, based on the aforementioned Presidential Decree, assigning the construction of a waste sorting and recycling plant to LLC "Temurbek Elegant". According to the project, the plant will process 70,000 tons of solid domestic waste annually.

The project also plans for the acquisition of 49 units of waste transport and disposal equipment, as well as 170 waste collection containers. However, it remains unclear when construction of the plant will actually begin. Currently, all garbage from the city of Jizzakh is transported to and buried in a solid waste landfill located 24 kilometers outside the city. Frequently, due to heat and other factors, the garbage at the landfill catches fire, sending foul-smelling smoke over neighboring residential homes depending on the wind direction.

According to Abduvali Nurmatov, an employee of the municipal landscaping department, waste at the landfill is not sorted.

Abduvali Nurmatov:

— "Our main task is to keep the surroundings of the landfill clean and guide the vehicles bringing waste here. Trash often catches fire due to the intense heat, as well as hot coals brought along with waste from teahouses and eateries."

The production of building materials is the dominant sector of industrial production in the region. There are also manufacturing facilities for plastic products, cotton processing, and an operational fish processing plant. The region has a large number of mines extracting polymetallic ores containing lead, zinc, and iron, as well as raw materials for lime production and limestone. All of these generate significant amounts of waste.

Currently, there are 34 mahallas in the city of Jizzakh, with a population of 168.2 thousand people. Approximately 80 tons of waste are removed from the city daily, meaning every resident of Jizzakh generates about 1.2 kg of trash per day. Waste collection is managed by two entities: LLC "Mahsus-service" and the Jizzakh Municipal Landscaping Department. However, despite the existing competition, delayed garbage removal in residential sectors and plastic bags left along local neighborhood roads continue to spoil the city's updated appearance.

— "We have signed agreements with 20 mahallas in our city, while LLC 'Mahsus-service' handles 14 mahallas for waste collection," says Bahodir Otajonov, head of the municipal landscaping department. — "Garbage trucks signal their arrival in the morning. All waste is buried at the solid waste landfill using bulldozers. A total of only 34 containers have been installed across all mahallas in Jizzakh, and letters warning residents to keep their neighborhoods clean have been sent to local mahalla committee chairpersons. Despite all measures taken, there are still instances where citizens dump garbage before reaching the containers or leave bags on roadsides and near residential building entrances. To eliminate these unpleasant cases, we regularly conduct educational awareness work with the population."

Despite these efforts, waste is still not removed on time in some of the city's mahallas. Residents do not care whether a mahalla belongs to the Landscaping Department or LLC "Mahsus-service"; they only care about one question: when will the garbage disposal issue finally be solved?

According to Lenure Adilshaeva, a resident of the "Navoi" mahalla in Jizzakh, garbage trucks often arrive when most of the neighborhood's residents are already at work. Therefore, only retirees or unemployed residents staying at home manage to take out their accumulated trash. But what if everyone in a household works? What should they do then? "We have brought up this issue with the municipal landscaping department several times, but it remains unresolved," says L. Adilshaeva.

— "A lot of waste accumulates in our mahalla during the day," says Rano Abdullaeva, a resident of the "Navruz" mahalla. — "Specialized vehicles collect all the garbage in the morning, but despite this, many people throw their trash in prohibited areas at night. Our city has transformed and become beautiful over the last two years. The Landscaping Department planted flowers everywhere. However, our citizens do not help responsible officials maintain this beauty, clean the city, or water the flowers. After all, all of this is done for us and our children. All this shows that our citizens lack ecological culture."

Everyone knows that waste pollutes the environment and serves as a vector for various infectious diseases. As of January 16, 2017, there are only 293 waste collection sites and 554 waste containers in the entire region. For the Jizzakh region, which has a population of over 1.3 million people, this is grossly insufficient. According to data from the Jizzakh Regional Department of the State Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control, the region requires an additional 2,255 collection sites and 889 containers. This would help keep district centers and residential areas clean, as well as prevent diseases associated with waste accumulation.

— "In accordance with a 2013 resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, every waste collection site must be maintained in compliance with sanitary standards. But we often observe a different picture—trash being thrown into irrigation ditches (aryks) and along roads. This is unpleasant to look at and dangerous to health," says Tal'at Boboev, head of the Sanitation and Hygiene Department at the Jizzakh Regional Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control. — "Because waste contains many pathogenic microbes that cause various diseases, primarily spread by flies. In addition, stagnated waste emits foul odors and can cause respiratory diseases. While waste is not the source of all infectious diseases, it triggers one of the most dangerous—hepatitis. Children playing near dump sites often grab food, bread, or fruit without washing their hands. Therefore, especially during the summer, our Center's staff conduct educational work in mahallas and educational institutions. We have established a control group that visits homes and checks the condition of sanitation facilities. Furthermore, our center's main responsibility is to monitor the sanitary-hygiene status of public catering establishments through laboratory testing."

Another major problem in the Jizzakh region is the lack of wastewater treatment facilities. Across the entire region, which comprises 12 districts and 1 city of regional subordination, having only one operational wastewater treatment plant is clearly insufficient. Unfortunately, even this facility requires major repairs. In some areas, untreated sewage is discharged directly into nature, exacerbating the environmental crisis.

— "Districts have bio-basins where primary-treated wastewater is dumped," continues Tal'at Boboev. — "There are several industrial enterprises in the Jizzakh region that discharge chemical waste. Each enterprise has a primary treatment facility. Another issue is that residents collect empty plastic bottles thrown in the trash and reuse them as containers to sell milk and dairy products."

Naturally, primary treatment alone cannot solve the problem; wastewater must undergo several purification stages to become completely harmless to the environment.

Today, the city of Jizzakh has turned into a massive construction site. New housing complexes are being built and areas are being landscaped. Yet, walking through the city, neither in the center nor on the outskirts did we see a single public trash bin.

— "Work is currently underway to install trash bins in public places and organize sorting systems," says Bahodir Otajonov. — "We are currently negotiating their procurement."

The public's environmental culture is shaped by efforts carried out in this direction. Not many city residents will carry candy wrappers, ice cream wrappers, sunflower seed shells, or cigarette butts in their pockets or bags just to dispose of them in a proper bin. Today, all this litter can be seen in ditches, on sidewalks, and across lawns. The absence of trash bins throughout the city—not to mention district centers and villages—leads to the disregard of the hard work done by landscaping staff.

In the region, the issue of collecting and disposing of solid domestic and electronic waste is becoming more urgent by the day. The Khokimiyat of Jizzakh Region faces a difficult challenge: there is an urgent need to build mini-recycling plants, wastewater treatment facilities, install public trash bins, and purchase additional waste containers. Resolving this issue will not only safeguard public health but also preserve Jizzakh's unique nature, which has a thousands-year-old history.

Nargis QOSIMOVA