BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 16. Uzbekistan plans to invest a combined $1.56 billion in 11 waste-to-energy projects.
This was reflected in the statement by the press service of the Uzbek president, following a presentation reviewed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on measures to improve waste management, recycling and electricity generation from waste.
According to the information, as of September 1, $286.8 million had been invested in the six projects, while purchases of locally produced goods and services reached $76.6 million. About 2,000 local workers have been involved in construction.
The projects will be implemented in the Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Tashkent, Andijan, Fergana and Namangan regions. Plants in Kashkadarya and Samarkand are scheduled to begin operations in 2026, while facilities in the remaining regions are expected to come online in 2027.
Once fully operational, the six plants will process 3.6 million metric tons of municipal solid waste annually and generate 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
"Particular attention should be paid to accelerating project implementation, creating the necessary infrastructure and conditions for investors, increasing localization and training qualified personnel," the presidential administration noted.
The presentation also covered five additional waste-to-energy projects involving companies from Singapore, South Korea and China. With a combined investment value of $625 million, these projects are planned for Karakalpakstan and the Jizzakh, Surkhandarya, Bukhara and Khorezm regions.
The additional projects are expected to process 1.9 million tons of municipal solid waste annually and generate 635 million kWh of electricity. They are also projected to create 500 jobs, save 158 million cubic meters of natural gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 316,000 tons per year.
Trend’s calculations show that the 11 projects together represent $1.56 billion in planned investment, with potential annual processing capacity of 5.5 million tons of waste and electricity generation of about 2.24 billion kWh. The projects could therefore create a sizeable waste-to-energy segment alongside Uzbekistan’s existing power-generation infrastructure.
In Trend’s assessment, the projects represent a shift in Uzbekistan’s waste policy from landfill-based disposal toward treating municipal waste as an economic resource. Beyond electricity generation, the investments could reduce the amount of waste requiring landfill space while creating demand for local construction, equipment, maintenance and technical services.
Furthermore, Trend’s analysis shows that the success of the program will depend not only on building incineration capacity but also on the quality of waste collection, sorting and emissions control. The planned localization and workforce-development measures could help ensure that the projects generate longer-term economic benefits rather than functioning solely as infrastructure investments.
