Waste management

Waste handling in KPO focuses on reducing real and potential hazards that production waste, generated by the Company, may pose to people and the environment.

Our target is to treat and recycle waste at our facilities, cut down waste transfer to landfills, reduce negative impact from burials, as well as to research and apply new methods and technologies.

As per the working monitoring program, KPO performs regular production environmental control (PEC) over the environmental conditions at the waste burial and accumulation sites in the field. In 2022, the monitoring did not reveal direct negative effects on the environmental components. Within the framework of the PEC, quantitative control is exercised over the movement of wastes in order to account for the burial volumes, as well as the volumes and time of waste accumulation.

The results of our work to minimize the risks of the Company’s production waste impact on the environment are presented below in the table and further in the text.

KPO processes related to production, processing and transportation of raw materials, as well as the use of special equipment, materials and other required resources, inevitably involve generation of waste.

Measures taken by KPO to reduce the volume of generated waste, to ensure compliance with environmental safety rules during the accumulation, collection and transportation, segregation, reuse, recycling, treatment and reduction of waste, including reducing their hazardous properties, as well as environmentally friendly burial – all this enables to significantly mitigate the adverse impact on people and the environment.

The KPO Waste Management Program for 2022 provides indicators and measures to gradually reduce the accumulated and generated waste volumes and level of hazardous properties. The Company applies the following waste management methods:

• waste recovery to process stream;
• waste treatment at the Eco Centre facilities;
• waste burial at the Eco Centre facilities;
• waste handover to specialist contractor organizations for further processing, reuse or destruction.

In 2022, the total amount of waste generated at KPO facilities was 37,243 tonnes. Compared to 2021, the amount of KPO waste in 2022 increased by 17,583 tons, which is mainly due to an increase in well operations, turnaround activities at KOGCF main facilities, construction of new facilities, as well as the inclusion of waste generated by contractor activities in KOGCF. Graph 25 shows all types of waste generated in KPO.

According to the Unified republican form of the waste information reporting system, the total volume of waste generated in 2022 included both wastes generated and treated.

Graph 25. Waste generated at KPO facilities in 2019–2022, tonnes

Waste processing and burial

The Company production and consumption wastes are treated at the Eco Centre facilities or the waste management complex. The facility ensures cost-efficient and environmentally safe recycling and treatment of solid waste and fluids and is considered to be an example of the best drilling waste management practice in the West Qazaqstan Oblast.

Drilling wastes are treated by means of technologies, which allow not only reducing their volume and hazard, but also recovering valuable components from them, and treating the waste for further reuse.

Waste recycling back into production process exercised by the Company is the best possible way to re-use the generated waste.

The KPO Eco Centre comprises five waste treatment facilities, as well as a Landfill for its safe disposal.

All Waste Management Programme (WMP) measures scheduled for 2022, including waste segregation, reuse, processing and reduction of their quantities and hazardous properties, were implemented throughout the year. During 2022 the following activities were completed:

Tab. 42. Eco Centre facilities and recycling activities in 2022

In 2022, the Company continued to excavate wastes from the old Solid Waste and Spent Drilling Fluids Storage Site for further treatment at the Thermo-mechanical cutting cleaning facility and burial at the Solid Industrial Waste Landfill. The waste is disposed at the Landfill in compliance with the RoQ environmental legislation.

In 2022, 5,318 tonnes (as compared to 4,308 tonnes in 2021) were sent for treatment from the Solid waste and Spent Drilling Liquids Storage Site. Increase of treatment amount was due to Rotary Kiln Incinerator back in service after the repairs. Processing of waste from the old site is planned to continue in 2023.

Table 43 shows the waste handling methods used by the Company in 2022.

Tab. 43. KPO’s waste handling methods in 2022, tonnes

The KPO waste is mainly produced during well drilling and workover activities. Besides, depend on the type of the drilling mud used the water or oil-based drill cuttings are generated. The solid and liquid drilling waste generated in 2022 amounted to 17,552 tonnes (68 % of the initially generated waste, i.e. waste volume before treatment). Drilling wastes were significantly increased due to increase of well operations.

Table No. 44 shows the main types of drilling waste broken down by handling methods. As table shows, only water-based mud and brines are subject to disposal at the Eco Centre's cells 35 A/B, and the water-based drill cuttings to be buried at the Landfill. Oil-based drilling cuttings are subject to burying after pre-treatment and extraction of the oil base.

Tab. 44. Waste generated from well operations by handling methods, 2020 – 2022

Within the contract terms, the Company hands over part of the waste for recycling to specialist contractors, who make their own decision on further waste handling methods once the waste has been accepted from KPO, and report on its transfer to third parties on a quarterly basis. Depending on the type, specialised enterprises hand over the waste for treatment with subsequent production of consumer goods, demercurization, regeneration, thermal treatment, incineration, physical and chemical treatment, dismantling into component parts with further transfer to concerned enterprises as recyclables.

Based on Article 351 of the RoQ Environmental Code that prohibits burial of waste plastic, plastic, polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate packaging, waste paper, cardboard, paper waste, glass cullet at the Landfills, the Company carries out sorting and segregation of such waste with the involvement of contractors that lease office buildings to the Company. These types of waste are then handed over to specialized enterprises to be used as recyclables. 

From 2011 till the end of 2022, for the whole period of the waste paper segregation, about 831 tonnes of the waste paper had been collected and handed over to local companies to produce consumer goods. The segregation of spent batteries was arranged in all Company office premises. 110 kg of batteries was collected in 2022.

Food Waste Treatment

In order to comply with the requirements of the RoQ Environmental Code, during 2021–2022 KPO has implemented the most efficient way to handle food waste generated at the food facilities of the Karachaganak field. The contract was signed for the biocomposting of food waste. In 2022, the Company handed over 252 tons of food waste from the food facilities of the Karachaganak field to the food waste processing enterprise. The resulting biocompost is used in agriculture and forestry as organic fertilizers to restore and improve soil fertility.