Stationary sources of air pollution, Almaty, aggregate, kilotons - 2018–2019
| 2018 | 2019 |
| 43 | 46 |
Almaty sits in a basin, a geographical location that complicates the atmospheric dispersion of automobile exhaust and emissions from boilers, thermal power plants, industrial facilities, and the private residences
By year's end 2019, over 51,000 cars were registered in Almaty: motor vehicle transport is the primary source of air pollution in the city.
Atmospheric monitoring in the city is carried out at 16 stationary posts. In 2018-2019, the air in the city was rated as highly polluted.
To reduce air pollution in the city, the private residential sector is undergoing gasification, improvements are being made to transportation infrastructure, public transport is being modified, and regulatory controls for business enterprises have been put in place. Heating and power plants are being gasified, the thermal electric station #1 operates exclusively on natural gas, a feasibility study for thermal electric station #2 is under development entitled “Modernization of Almaty Thermal Electric Station #2 to minimize environmental impact."
Operations commenced at Municipal bus depot #3, serving as a natural gas refueling hub for 220 city buses.
To reduce public transport emissions, a 3.1km metro line is under construction and the BAKAD ring road also under construction will re-direct roughly 40,000 vehicles per day away from the city.
Within the city, dedicated bus lanes are being installed and public transport is being transitioned to burn more environmentally friendly fuel. By 2019, in Almaty 735 buses currently operate and an additional 450 buses have been purchased which comply with EURO-5 standards. Due to these modernization efforts, harmful substance emissions have already decreased annually by 2,300 tons.
In the city, work has begun on the implementation of light rail transport system covering 24 kilometers.
Passenger vehicle access is denied for private passenger vehicles but allowed for natural gas-powered bus and passenger shuttles covering the Medeu - Shymbulak route. Six environmental monitoring posts are positioned at primary entry points to the tract to gauge transport exhaust pollution levels.
Three natural gas distribution companies serve Almaty. The city's gas supply lines cover 5875 kilometers and 99% of city residents have access to the natural gas supply. 2912 homes remain unconnected to natural gas.
Water pollution monitoring has been conducted on three city streams: the Kishi Almaty, Esentai, and Ulken Almaty rivers and on Ulken Almaty Lake. All monitored bodies of water are categorized in Class 3.
There are 153 bodies of water within the city. The primary water challenge in the city is low-water levels in city streams and the water quality in those streams – a situation conducive to contaminant exposure and dilution/dispersion. The primary pollutants found in urban streams include nitrates, petroleum products, phenols and heavy metals.
Beginning in 2007, reconstruction of riverbeds and adjacent water protection zone landscaping projects have been carried out, including 22 kilometers of riverbank and riverbed landscaped and improved in 2018-2019.
1.5% of city territory is zoned as protected natural areas, of which there are three:
• Ile-Alatau State National Park
• Medeu Regional Nature Park
• Almaty Historical Museum (Boraldai Saki Mounds)
The total land area covered by the city in 2019 is 68,351 hectares which fall into four categories
| Category | Area / hectares |
| Residential | 10 256 |
| Public space | 4 618 |
| Commercial | 7 780 |
| Other | 45 696 |
In spring and autumn of 2019, soil samples were tested in several districts of Almaty for heavy metal concentrations
| Substance | MAC | Levels observed, 2019 |
| Chromim | 6 mg/kg | 0,13–1,54 mg/kg |
| Zinc | 23 mg/kg | 2,8–19,3 mg/kg |
| Lead | 32 mg/kg | 9,4–51,9 mg/kg |
| Copper | 3 mg/kg | 0,53–6,4 mg/kg |
Almaty borders on Ile-Alatau National Nature Park, a federally protected nature reserve.
Medeu Regional Nature Park covers over 700 hectares of regionally protected land within the city. The territory is home to 334 species from 225 genera and 59 families of plants; at least 136 species of nesting, stationary, migrating and wintering birds; and 25 mammal species.
In Almaty stand Baum's Grove Natural Monument (139.5 ha) and the Main Botanical Garden (104 ha), both federally protected areas.
Within the city, trees of the ulmus genus predominate, primarily elms and karagachi. Greenspace and tree plantings within the city reveal uneven levels of environmental distress, with 35% of trees in the Turksib district showing damage, 17% in Zhetysu showing damage, but in the Almalyn and Bostandyk Districts only 1% showing damage. Overall, roughly 8% of all trees in the city evidence environmental damage.
In 2019, the greenspace in Almaty amounts to more than 2 million trees and shrubs.
Area of public access greenspace, by district - 2018–2019
| 2018 | 2019 | |||
| District | Total m2 | m2 per person | Total m2 | m2 per person |
| Alatau | 117 000 | 0,52 | 1 145 382 | 4,14 |
| Almalyn | 998 900 | 4,64 | 1 297 632 | 5,98 |
| Auyezov | 429 800 | 1,5 | 1 544 322 | 5,1 |
| Bostandyk | 1 483 900 | 4,47 | 2 291 244 | 6,55 |
| Zhetysu | 398 700 | 2,47 | 1 339 140 | 7,89 |
| Medeu | 1 716 000 | 8,55 | 2 852 454 | 13,37 |
| Nauryzbay | 6 000 | 0,01 | 1 233 570 | 8,81 |
| Turksib | 241 500 | 1,08 | 2 605 818 | 10,87 |
| Almaty, totals | 5 385 800 | 3,07 | 14 309 562 | 7,49 |
In 2019, 4626 trees were cut down in emergency/hazardous situations.
In 2019, 135,553 tree and shrub seedlings were planted in the city, roughly 6,000 seedlings from previous plantings were restored; maintained flower beds cover 110,775 m of the city.
Monitoring of radioactive gamma contamination of the surface layer of the atmosphere in the city was carried out daily at two meteorological stations in the areas of Satpayev Street and Seifullin Prospect. Measurements reveal that the average values of the gamma background, gamma emissions and radioactive fallout in both 2018 and 2019 were within normal limits.
A radioactive waste disposal point has operated In Almaty since 1967. In 2019, there were no radioactive waste burials there. A total of 339 terabecquerel (8824.6 Curie).
Generation and recycling of household waste, Almaty - 2018-2019
| 2018 | 2019 | |
| Generation of household waste, kilotons | 480 | 5,7 |
| Recycled household waste, % of total | 459 | 11 |
100% of Almaty residents are provided with garbage collection services, 25 waste management firms operated in the city in 2019; in 2018, 28 operated.
Kazakhstan Waste Recycling, LLP operates 24 wastepaper and plastic waste collection stations.
Around 400 steel mesh containers for plastic waste collection and a further 100 containers for electronic and technical waste collection have been installed at the city collection sites. More than 700 eco-boxes for the collection of plastic waste, wastepaper, and glass containers have been installed at State-run facilities and organizations operating in the Almaty.
A photovoltaic station with a capacity of 10kW is in operation in the Alatau IT park, producing 40 mW hours annually.
12 hydroelectric power plants are located on the Ulken River in Almaty's Bostandyk district.
At the Medeu Park and Young Naturalist Stations in the city's Auezov district, water heating solar panels have been installed.
A hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 430kW is located at the Almaty Su treatment plant.
Due to its naturally occurring and climatic features, Almaty experiences heavy pollution from industrial and transportation exhaust emissions. To address this, gasification, greenspace creation and public transport modernization efforts are ongoing in the city. In 2019, the volume of atmospheric emissions amounted to 72 kilotons against an established baseline of 80 kilotons; 95.7% of all harmful industrial substance emissions were captured and neutralized.
A problem Almaty faces is the pollution of its freshwater streams. To address this, in 2019, restoration efforts were undertaken at the protected zones and channels of the Ulken Karasu and Kishi Karasu rivers, and on sections of the protected zones of the Esentai River. Total reconstruction efforts covered 191 kilometers of riverbank.
The city generates significant amounts of waste material. In 2019, 455 kilotons were generated, of which 51 kilotons were recycled into usable raw materials. To encourage recycling efforts, designated containers for recyclable materials were installed throughout the city, accepting for recycling wastepaper, plastic, electronic and electrical waste and more.
The city lacks sufficient land for the establishment of additional greenspace, so work continues to preserve the greenspace that exists - 3.8 m of greenspace per 2 inhabitant. Correspondingly, in 2019, over 135,500 seedlings were planted to maintain this ratio.