The municipal waste collection and disposal sector in Kazakhstan continues to expand both in terms of the number of market participants and the volume of services provided. By the end of 2025, the country had 846 enterprises and organisations operating in this segment. The largest concentration of companies was recorded in Almaty Region, with 117 organisations, followed by Almaty with 91 and Zhambyl Region with 93. At the same time, a number of regions still demonstrated relatively low figures: for example, only 9 organisations operated in the sparsely populated Ulytau Region. Meanwhile, Shymkent — despite its status as the country’s third-largest metropolis — had just 15 companies active in the sector.

Over the past five years, the number of enterprises in the industry has increased markedly. While 676 organisations operated in Kazakhstan in 2021, by 2025 the figure had grown by a quarter. The segment of individual entrepreneurs expanded particularly rapidly. Their number rose from 247 to 376 over the period, while their share in the market structure increased from 36.5% to 44.4%. This points to the steadily growing role of small businesses in the waste disposal sector.

At the same time, the market remains predominantly private. In 2025, 782 out of 846 enterprises belonged to the private sector. Although the share of private companies declined slightly compared to 2023, when it reached 95%, the industry as a whole is still shaped almost entirely by businesses, while state participation remains limited.

The volume of collected waste has also been rising, as expected. In 2025, the total volume of waste collected, including waste handled by self-hauling enterprises, reached 5.5 million tonnes, up from 4 million tonnes in 2021. Of this amount, 4.1 million tonnes accounted for municipal waste.

A significant share of municipal waste consisted of street-cleaning waste, at 246.2 thousand tonnes, as well as waste paper, cardboard and paper waste, at 200.3 thousand tonnes, and food waste, at 157.7 thousand tonnes. Waste generated by markets totalled 154.5 thousand tonnes, while plastics, polyethylene and PET packaging amounted to 98.2 thousand tonnes. Glass waste reached 32.2 thousand tonnes.

At the same time, the collection volumes of certain types of recyclable materials remain relatively low. For example, only 665 tonnes of electronic and electrical waste were collected, along with 1.7 thousand tonnes of metals, 412 tonnes of tyres, and 4 thousand tonnes of clothing and textiles. The remaining volume consisted of other mixed waste.

The volume of household waste also remains high. In 2025, 2.1 million tonnes of household waste were collected across the country, compared to 2 million tonnes a year earlier. The largest volumes traditionally came from the country’s biggest cities and industrial regions.

Almaty led the ranking with 475.1 thousand tonnes, followed by Karaganda Region with 237.8 thousand tonnes and Astana with 212 thousand tonnes. Significant volumes were also recorded in Mangystau Region, at 148.1 thousand tonnes, and Shymkent, at 137.6 thousand tonnes. In a number of less populated regions, the figures were substantially lower: for example, 13.3 thousand tonnes of household waste were collected in Kyzylorda Region, 22.8 thousand tonnes in Zhetysu Region, and 25.9 thousand tonnes in Abai Region.

Against the backdrop of growing service volumes, waste collection and disposal services for households have also continued to become more expensive. Prices in the sector have shown steady growth over recent years. While annual price growth stood at 5.9% in April 2020, the figure had already reached 22.4% by April 2023 and surged to 30.7% in April 2024. In April 2025, the pace of growth slowed somewhat, although waste disposal services still became 16.2% more expensive compared to the same period a year earlier. At the same time, it is worth noting that as of April this year, waste disposal prices had increased by just 1.8% year-on-year.

Overall, Kazakhstan’s municipal waste collection and disposal sector continues to demonstrate steady expansion. The number of enterprises is growing and the role of small businesses is strengthening, while the market remains predominantly private. At the same time, the volumes of collected waste — including municipal and household waste — continue to increase. However, the structure of collected waste is still largely dominated by mixed waste, whereas the share of separately collected recyclable materials remains limited. Against this backdrop, the sector has experienced notable price growth in recent years, although the pace of increase slowed significantly in 2026.