The official website of the President of Uzbekistan has released a press release stating that six waste incineration power generation projects are scheduled to be implemented from 2026 to 2027, with a total investment of 930 million US dollars, all in cooperation with Chinese companies. Distributed in six provinces of Kashkadaria, Samarkand, Tashkent, Andijan, Fergana, and Namangan, the factories in Kashkadaria and Samarkand are planned to be put into operation in 2026, while the remaining four will be put into operation in 2027. As of September 1, 2026, an investment of 286.8 million US dollars has been used to purchase domestic goods and services worth 76.6 million US dollars, and 2000 local workers are working on the construction site. After completion, these six factories will be able to process 3.6 million tons of urban solid waste and generate 1.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. Uzbekistan generates approximately 15 million tons of household waste annually, with a recycling rate of only 5.2%, and a huge urban mineral deposit has hardly been exploited.

Output the entire chain instead of selling equipment

A garbage incineration power plant, upon disassembly, appears as a complete chain: garbage sorting system, incinerator, waste heat boiler, steam turbine generator unit, flue gas purification system, leachate treatment, fly ash solidification, power transmission and distribution, and most importantly, long-term operation and maintenance. What the Ukrainian side needs is not just equipment, but also people, standards, and operational systems. This is the fundamental difference between whole chain output and selling equipment. Previously, the export was selling iron, and one wind turbine was transported over to load the goods and clear the money; Now it is a turnkey project, covering design, supply, installation, commissioning, grid connected power generation, emissions compliance, and continuous operation. Developed countries may not be willing to do this set of capabilities, and developing countries may not be able to do it, so it is not surprising that this $933 million falls into the hands of Chinese companies. And the pace is very tight. On September 10, 2026, the president listened to the report, and on September 17, 2026, the presidential decree was signed, specifically for the legislation of the incineration of domestic waste for power generation projects in Jizhak and Syr Darya provinces. Within a week, from the report to the legislation, Uzbekistan is not studying whether to do it or not, it is already doing it.

The supporting opportunities are hidden behind the general contractor

The amount of garbage in Tashkent has increased from about 1950 tons per day in 2019 to about 3000 tons per day in 2024, an increase of more than half in five years. But the infrastructure has just started, and the first engineered sanitary landfill built to international standards in Central Asia is the Akhangaran landfill, which was built with assistance from the Asian Development Bank and will not be put into operation until May 2025. In 2024, there were approximately 319 officially registered landfill sites for household waste in Uzbekistan, but the space department conducted a satellite survey and found 1805 illegal dumping sites. This is not a problem of lacking a few factories, it is a nationwide processing capacity gap. Each link of garbage sorting equipment, leachate treatment system, fly ash solidification device, flue gas purification consumables, spare parts supply, localized assembly, and operation and maintenance worker training requires someone to do it. The general contractor is responsible for building the factory, but after the factory is built, it needs to be burned, repaired, replaced, and meet the standards every day. These tasks will not be carried out by the general contractor alone. This is the position of the supporting enterprise. Keywords: Central Asia News Network, Waste to Energy Generation, Enterprise Going Global

Policy Window and Market Space

Uzbekistan has opened up its waste disposal industry to the private sector for several years, with income tax and social tax levied at 1% on sanitation and waste processing enterprises, and imported equipment exempt from tariffs. As soon as the policy was relaxed, the market immediately rose, and about 200 health enterprises and 290 processing enterprises emerged like this. Now this wave of garbage power generation has been stacked on top. At the presidential briefing, five other waste to energy projects with a total investment of 625 million US dollars were also reviewed, involving companies from Singapore, South Korea, and China, located in Karakalpakstan and Jizak, Surhan River, Bukhara, and Khorezm. After being fully put into operation, these five projects can process 1.9 million tons of solid waste annually, generate 635 million kilowatt hours of electricity, create 500 jobs, and save 158 million cubic meters of natural gas. Eleven factories were activated in a short period of time over a period of two years, forming a complete industrial chain. The window period for this round is about two to three years, and it will be too late to enter after the factory is built and the supporting layout is determined. China's waste incineration technology and operational experience are the most mature in the world, and it has already been rolled to the bone domestically. Another place would be a blue ocean.Editor/Gao Xue