Assessment of the potential for using industrial waste in agriculture in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan

The present article assesses the potential for the utilisation of industrial waste in agriculture in the Tashkent region, which generates approximately 43.5 million tons of industrial waste on an annual basis. An analysis of the composition and volumes of the primary waste streams indicated that fly ash (1.2 million tons/year) enhances the physical properties of heavy clay soils, reducing their bulk density by 8–12% and increasing their water retention capacity by 22%. Phosphogypsum (0.8 million tons/year) has been demonstrated to be effective in the reclamation of saline vineyards, with a reduction in the exchangeable sodium content from 12% to 6%. However, in 15–20% of batches, the arsenic content exceeds the maximum permissible concentration. The utilisation of organic digestate, amounting to 0.5 million tons per annum, has been demonstrated to facilitate balanced NPK nutrition, thereby augmenting vegetable crop yields by 15–22%. Metallurgical slag, with an annual output of 2.1 million tons, has been excluded from recommendations for agricultural use due to its cadmium and selenium concentrations, which exceed the MPC by a factor of 5–15. A series of measures have been proposed, including the mandatory certification of waste, the establishment of pilot agro-industrial clusters, and the introduction of mechanisms for the safe use of industrial waste.

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