OREANDA-NEWS. December 13, 2012. The EBRD is continuing to support Kazakhstan’s municipalities in their drive towards a green economy with a loan to finance the construction of a new waste-to-energy facility in the city of Aktau, in western Kazakhstan.

The 2.4 billion tenge (EUR 12.7 million equivalent) loan to State Communal Enterprise Koktem, Aktau’s waste management company, will co-finance the new integrated mechanical-biological treatment facility and a new sanitary landfill.

The project will be co-financed by the Clean Technology Fund which is providing a USD  8 million loan.

The project will also be supported by a capital grant from the state budget.

The Korean Donor Fund provided nearly EUR 300,000 and the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund is providing grants of nearly EUR 800,000 for project management, design, engineering, training, operational improvements and other associated spending.

The new waste management plant will be one of the first such facilities in the region. It will enable the city to recycle waste (which was not provided for under existing Soviet-era facilities), produce “green” electricity out of waste and so deposit less waste in the landfill.

The project will also bring benefits to the waste management company in terms of reorganisation and improvements in waste tariffs.

“Kazakhstan wants to start thinking green. The country inherited crumbling, inefficient Soviet-built infrastructure, and it will take a big effort to modernise it. However projects like these – where a city in the oil-rich Mangystau region is striving to produce energy from waste and builds modern, innovative facilities – are a sign that the dream of a green economy is taking hold in the regions, not just in the capital,” said Janet Heckman, Director Kazakhstan office EBRD.

Since the beginning of operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested USD 5.9 billion in 157 projects, mobilising an additional USD 5.4 billion from other sources of financing.