Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Representatives of the FAO, the Agency for Waste Management and Development of Circular Economy, and Uzbekistan’s cement industry discussed prospects for using cement kilns to treat certain categories of hazardous waste. The meeting was held in Tashkent on 23 September. The Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan said.
The roundtable focused on co-processing technology, under which certain types of waste are used in cement production to replace part of conventional fuel or raw materials.
A similar approach is already used in some countries to manage certain types of waste.
According to the organisers, Uzbekistan’s existing capacity for neutralising and permanently disposing of hazardous waste remains limited. This is associated with potential risks to the environment and public health.
Participants were presented with Azerbaijan’s experience as one example. With FAO support, controlled trials were conducted there to use cement kilns to treat pesticide waste containing persistent organic pollutants.
A potential pilot project in Uzbekistan would require preliminary work on a range of issues, including regulatory requirements, permitting procedures, the availability of necessary infrastructure and sources of financing. In addition, individual cement plants could undergo technical assessments to determine whether they are suitable for participation.
“This roundtable is a first step towards assessing the possibilities, identifying interested cement plants and establishing the technical, regulatory and environmental requirements that would need to be met before any pilot operation could be considered,” said Arthur Shamilov, FAO agriculture specialist and lead technical officer of the project.
A specific list of plants for a potential pilot has not yet been determined. It is also not yet known which types of waste could be treated or in what quantities. Environmental monitoring of such operations remains a separate issue.
The discussion was held as part of the FAO project “Technical Assistance for the Sound Management of Hazardous Chemicals,” funded by the European Union. The project has a budget of €3.9 million and began implementation in 2024.
The project aims to assess the quantities of obsolete pesticides and contaminated land, improve the chemicals management system and reduce the use of highly hazardous pesticides. As part of this work, eight sites containing buried obsolete or banned pesticides and chemical containers had been secured in Uzbekistan by that time. Conservation work had also begun at two other sites.
At the same time, the country is developing individual projects related to the management of hazardous industrial waste.
In June 2025, Uzbekistan reached agreements with Saudi Arabia’s Vision International Investment and France’s Suez on a US$78 million project. It envisages the construction of specialised disposal sites, the production of fuel from waste and the establishment of a facility for thermal waste treatment.
Co-processing in cement kilns involves feeding waste into the kiln together with conventional fuel and raw materials. Combustible components can partially replace coal or other fuels, while mineral components can become incorporated into cement clinker.
The technology is being considered, among other things, in the context of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. In a cement kiln, flame temperatures can reach about 2,000 degrees Celsius, while the temperature of the processed material can reach around 1,450 degrees.
Prolonged exposure to high temperatures allows organic pollutants to be destroyed.
At the same time, the technology requires strict waste selection.
It is not suitable for all hazardous materials and requires their composition to be determined in advance, controlled feeding into the kiln and continuous emissions monitoring. In particular, levels of heavy metals, dioxins and other toxic compounds need to be monitored.
Therefore, possible adoption of the technology in Uzbekistan would require a preliminary technical and environmental assessment, the establishment of requirements for participating plants and the development of mechanisms for continuous monitoring.
