Kazakhstan, Astana, Feb. 11 / Trend A. Maratov /
Kazakhstan has accumulated over 22 billion tons of waste. The government intends to tighten its legislation on environmental protection, Environment Minister Nurgali Ashimov said.
Ashimov presented the draft law on amendments and addenda to legislative acts on environmental issues in parliament today.
"First and foremost, this bill seeks to resolve a serious environmental problem - the increasing volume of accumulated waste," Ashimov said.
About 7 billion of 22 billion tons of waste in Kazakhstan are hazardous.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government in 2007 to resolve problems related to the processing of waste production and consumption.
It is more profitable for enterprises to pay for waste disposal than to do it themselves, Ashimov said.
He noted that after the bill is approved, enterprises will be obliged to develop a waste management program with the ministry.
"These provisions will be introduced by the bill from Jan. 1, 2013. Thus, companies have time to prepare and justify their programs," the minister said.