Situation in Kyrgyzstan

A national inventory update on obsolete pesticides has been completed 2021. It has been identified more that 4500 MT of obsolete pesticides. However, only limited amounts of obsolete pesticides require safeguarding. Some DDT volumes safeguarded under a previous GEF/UNEP project are located at At-Bashy and Balykchy site, while the bulk of the obsolete pesticides is stored at three landfills.

Based on request from the Ministry of Defense of the Kyrgyz Republic, the project is supporting in repackaging of 100 MT obsolete pesticides in military base in Erkin village of Osh oblast.

Currently, Kyrgyzstan has no waste disposal infrastructure in place and there is partially unclear attribution of responsibilities across the ministries. The country has started to develop elements of a national waste management strategy, however, a further engagement of both government and civil society in a discussion of best acceptable solutions for the treatment of various wastes including hazardous wastes is needed.

Export of hazardous waste for treatment abroad is currently not feasible. China, the only neighbouring country with modern disposal infrastructure, forbids the import of any type of waste for final disposal. Transit of waste through the Eurasian Customs Union is currently prohibited, an amendment lifting the transit restriction has been signed on 9 August 2019, but has not entered into force until today. A transit through Uzbekistan and then Turkmenistan might be an option opening up, however, Turkmenistan has just started the development of the list of wastes eligible for transit. Export to the South would lead eventually through Afghanistan, which is currently excluded for safety reasons.

Probably, both national disposal as well as disposal abroad will not be possible within the lifetime of the project. Therefore, the project focuses on a) facilitating the development of future disposal options; and b) safeguard existing wastes and bring them to a secure temporary store.

Kyrgyzstan has only small, annually generated volumes of empty containers (nearly 25 MT), making shredding, rinsing and recycling economically not viable. Different facilities which could provide disposal services are available. In 2024, draft container management system (CMS) has been developed jointly with the main beneficiaries. It is expected to run a CMS pilot in 2025.

Illicit, counterfeit and illegal pesticides form about 50 % of the annual volume of pesticides used, making establishing a container management system more difficult due to the risk of "free riders".

In this regard, in 2024 work on introduction of digital pesticides management system started. The system will allow to trace pesticides starting from importing to using of pesticides on fields.

In terms of contaminated soil, Kyrgyzstan has limited number of contaminated sites for which information update is required. Field trials on bio-remediation of POPs contaminated soils is completed. Work is based on earlier research work by the Department of Crop Protection of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University.

Ongoing activities in Kyrgyzstan

Component 1

• Safeguarding of obsolete pesticides in the village of Erkin jointly with the Ministry of Defense of the Kyrgyz Republic
• Piloting container management system in Chui oblast

Component 2

• Improving of pesticides management through implementation of pesticides traceability system
• Improvement of pesticides legislation

Component 3

• Promotion of IPM among private companies
• Raising capacity of private agronomist on pesticides management, IPM and plan quarantine 

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