Six months ago, the nature protection society of Turkmenistan initiated a project on recycling plastic waste "Clean cities", which was taken up by many residents of Ashgabat. Activists, supporters of environmental cleanliness of the capital, supporting the call of the project, stopped throwing used plastic, glass, waste paper and other household waste to the landfill, and collect and hand it all over to the project specialists so that they pass the scrap for recycling.

In conversation with the correspondent of "Turkmenportal" the project staff tell:

"We are very happy that there are more and more supporters of the cleanliness of our city, which indicates that the civic consciousness of citizens is growing. At the same time, there are so many people who want to hand over the collected plastic scrap that we physically do not have time to pick it up, since we only have one car. I am glad that the activists include both individual citizens and entire organizations, sports clubs, and construction institutions."

At the moment, there is a certain scheme for collecting scrap products. Activists invite project employees to collect the collected plastic. in turn, the project transfers the collected plastic to entrepreneurs who process this type of household waste and produce irrigation pipes and Flex from it.

Since the decomposition of plastic occurs for decades, it is advisable that it does not end up in a landfill and does not lie there, poisoning the environment with decomposition products, according to environmental experts. The leftover plastic, of course, can be disposed of thermally using a pyrolysis plant, a prototype of which has already been assembled by project specialists. However, there is not enough money to set up a full-fledged equipment that can dispose of 2-3 tons of plastic a day.

Employees of the nature protection Society have formed a partnership with the UNDP project "Sustainable cities in Turkmenistan: Integrated development of green cities in Ashgabat and Avaza". As part of this cooperation, special sorting containers for collecting glass, plastic and paper were purchased and installed in certain places in the city. Earlier, we wrote that containers for plastic waste were installed in Ashgabat and Akhal velayat.

"Ideally, instead of re-using PET bottles (eggplant – ed.), it is better to use glass bottles and cans," says project coordinator Merdan Arazmedov. – After all, on the smooth surface of the glass, there is zero settling of pathogenic bacteria. Not everyone knows that, for example, PET containers cannot be used more than once, after reuse, it begins to emit toxic substances under the influence of the environment. 

Now the so-called "green technologies" are widely used in the world. For example, in China, pellets are produced from plant components, which are based on extracts from maize and rice stalks. These pellets are used to produce material for packaging and packaging, which is able to decompose in the ground after six months, while not releasing harmful substances into the soil. We should also come to the use of such technologies over time, but in the meantime, we suggest using eco-bags and paper bags instead of disposable bags, the secondary material for which can be obtained from recycling waste paper. We also accept used engine oil and tires for recycling."

The project of the society for nature protection "Clean city" appeals to all residents of Ashgabat not to throw plastic, glass, waste paper to the landfill, but to hand them over to reception points. The project aims to expand its activities to cover all velayats of the country, so it welcomes local activists who are already helping with sorting and collecting plastic.

You can contact the project staff by phone: +993 63 86 43 55.

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