In November, a video recording was sent to the FBRC anonymous bot showing rubbish trucks from the company LLP «Zero Waste» – the new waste collection operator in Astana – dumping waste in an unauthorised location. According to the author of the video, instead of being taken to a waste processing plant, the rubbish is being dumped in a quarry near the village of Koyandy, thereby creating an illegal landfill.
The FBRC editorial team investigated the company's activities. LLP «Zero Waste», registered in February, specialises in the collection of non-hazardous waste. In June the company obtained a licence for the collection, sorting and transportation of waste.
Notably, the company has never participated in public procurement and holds no government contracts. How LLP «Zero Waste» became a service provider for waste collection in Astana remains unknown. However, the LLP has already paid nearly 43 million tenge in taxes.
The company's director is Daniyar Akhmetov, and the founder is Saken Akhtanbekov. Little is known about the 37-year-old Akhmetov. He previously headed LLP «GK Global Trans Service», which transferred to the ownership of Arman Aituyev and was declared dormant in April.
The 30-year-old Akhtanbekov owns a sole proprietorship in the freight transport sector. He previously managed LLP «Gloria Furniture Company», which specialised in repairing furniture and interior items. The company was liquidated in 2022.
Today, Saken Akhtanbekov is also the owner of LLP «Green Technology Solutions Astana» - a company involved in waste processing and non-ferrous scrap metal recycling – which, like «Zero Waste», has never participated in public procurement.
Remarkably, «Green Technology Solutions Astana» was registered on 2 September. Just on 27 September, news appeared in the media stating that the company would build a plant for the deep processing of solid municipal waste (SMW) using the best available technologies.
It was reported that, as part of concessional lending, two investment projects in the waste processing sector were planned for implementation in Astana, one of which would be the plant of «Green Technology Solutions Astana».
According to the capital's Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the plant's design capacity will be 200 thousand tonnes per year, with the volume of «tailings» for disposal amounting to 34% of the total volume. The project's cost is estimated at 15 billion tenge, of which 12 billion are borrowed funds.
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For reference: A tailings storage facility is a complex of special structures designed for the storage or disposal of radioactive, toxic and other waste resulting from mineral processing (such waste is referred to as tailings).
At the same time, «Zero Waste» (the very company whose rubbish trucks were captured on video) plans to purchase new equipment as part of creating a waste sorting line, as well as sorting and selling the secondary material resources obtained. It was reported that the project's cost would be 608 million tenge.
Remarkably, both of Akhtanbekov's companies, registered in 2024 and with no experience of participating in tenders, gained access to large-scale projects in the waste management sector.
Moreover, the appearance of the video showing the illegal landfill calls into question the competence and integrity of the new waste operator.
In this regard, the FBRC editorial team believes that the competent authorities should conduct a thorough investigation into the activities of the companies «Zero Waste» and «Green Technology Solutions Astana».
Questions concerning the awarding of the waste collection contract, as well as the companies' real intentions and capabilities for implementing the announced projects, require clarification.
We have sent official requests to the Akimat of Astana and the Environmental Prosecutor's Office, asking them to investigate the fact that waste was dumped in an unauthorised location.
To be continued…