The challenge of doing good: promotion of recycling in Almaty through civic community initiatives

Aliya Tskhay ^a*, Nazilya Kulpeshova ^b

---

^a University of St Andrews, College Gate, St Andrews, Scotland, UK

^b Independent researcher

*Email: aliya.tskhay@gmail.com

Nazilya Kulpeshova: nazya9834@gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.29258/CAJSCR/2024-R1.v3-1/59-73.eng

April 30, 2024

Abstract

Recycling is one of the key components in reduction of carbon emissions and improving environmental conditions, especially in the urban context. In Central Asia, the legislation and infrastructure necessary for waste management is still under development. Thus, the knowledge gap and public awareness campaigns are mostly done at the grassroots level. This paper looks at the case of recycling promotion through civic community initiatives that also have a charitable component in Almaty. It explores the ethical considerations that are being entangled with the introduction of recycling culture in the city and is grounded in the literature on civil society, environmental ethics and social entrepreneurship. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with organizers of recycling fairs and NGOs working on recycling. The paper reveals that by appealing to the ethical considerations of people to “do good” and contribute to charitable cause, the organizers of the recycling fair also demonstrate the effects of over-consumerism, ways of doing waste management, and educate about reuse and upcycle culture. The single case of Darmarka in Almaty present a limitation of the study. Therefore, a more in-depth research on the organisation of Darmarka events in other cities in Kazakhstan and CIS, as well as on similar initiatives in other Central Asian countries would be beneficial in the future. This is an important contribution in understanding what challenges and opportunities exist in promotion of recycling in Central Asia, that can be useful to national governments, experts, and international organizations working in this area.

Download the Paper

Available in English

For citation: Tskhay, A., Kulpeshova, N. (2024). The challenge of doing good: Promotion of recycling in Almaty through civic community initiatives. Central Asian Journal of Sustainability and Climate Research. https://doi.org/10.29258/CAJSCR/2024-R1.v3-1/59-73.eng

Rerefences

Adibayeva, A. M., Saari, D. B., & Utarbayeva, Z. (2023). The political aspects of eco-activism in Kazakhstan: challenges and opportunities. BULLETIN of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University.Political Science. Regional Studies. Oriental Studies. Turkology Series., 145(4), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.32523/2616-6887/2023-145-4-19-27

AUCA. (2024). New Gift Fair (Darmarka). Retrieved from https://auca.kg/en/auca_news/6022/

Austin, J., Stevenson, H., & Wei-skillern, J. (2006). Social and Commercial Entrepreneurship: Same, Different, or Both? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1540-6520.2006.00107.x

Bossuyt, F. (2023). The Importance of Boosting Societal Resilience in the Fight Against Climate Change in Central Asia. In R. Sabyrbekov, I. Overland, & R. Vakulchuk (Eds.), Climate Change in Central Asia: Decarbonization, Energy Transition and Climate Policy (pp. 149–159). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29831-8_12

Buxton, C. (2009). NGO networks in Central Asia and global civil society: Potentials and limitations. Central Asian Survey, 28(1), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634930902775129

Costa Buranelli, F. (2023). The Institutionalisation of Environmentalism in Central Asia. In R. Sabyrbekov, I. Overland, & R. Vakulchuk (Eds.), Climate Change in Central Asia: Decarbonization, Energy Transition and Climate Policy (pp. 137–148). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https:// doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29831-8_11

Crouch, M., & McKenzie, H. (2006). The logic of small samples in interview-based qualitative research. Social Science Information, 45(4), 483–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018406069584

De Groot, M., Drenthen, M., & De Groot, W. T. (2011). Public visions of the human/nature relationship and their implications for environmental ethics. Environmental Ethics, 33(1), 25–44. https://doi. org/10.5840/enviroethics20113314

Elegbede, I. O., Sanni, R., Mekuleyi, G., & Afolabi, S. (2023). Environment and Ethics in Sustainability. In S. O. Idowu, R. Schmidpeter, N. Capaldi, L. Zu, M. Del Baldo, & R. Abreu (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management (pp. 1409–1416). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-031-25984-5_589

Farmer, A. M., & Farmer, A. A. (2001). Developing sustainability: Environmental non-governmental organizations in former Soviet Central Asia. Sustainable Development, 9(3), 136–148. https://doi. org/10.1002/sd.166

Groma, L., & Licite-Kurbe, L. (2021). Theoretical aspects of social entrepreneurship in the context of environmentalism. Research for Rural Development, 36, 233–238. https://doi.org/10.22616/ rrd.27.2021.033

Hill, T. L., Kothari, T. H., & Shea, M. (2010). Patterns of Meaning in the Social Entrepreneurship Literature : A Research Platform. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 5–31. https://doi. org/10.1080/19420670903442079

Hlady-Rispal, M., & Servantie, V. (2018). Deconstructing the Way in which Value Is Created in the Context of Social Entrepreneurship. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), 62–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12113

Kamaludin, M. F., Xavier, J. A., Amin, M., & Xavier, J. A. (2024). Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability : A Conceptual Framework Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability : A. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 15(1), 26–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2021.1900339

Knox, C., & Sharipova, D. (2024). Authoritarianism and civil society in Central Asia: Shifting boundaries. Journal of Civil Society, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2024.2324874

Kumar, Y. A. (2022). Environmental awareness study in Kazakhstan: a critical literature review. The Journal of Psychology & Sociology, 80(1). https://doi.org/10.26577/jpss.2022.v80.i1.10

Kuzembayeva, A. B., Baikushikova, G. S., Delovarova, L. F., & Chukubayev, Y. S. (2017). Development of environmental movements in Kazakhstan through the prism of social and political transformations: key trends and current issues. Central Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 3(1–2), 92–99. Retrieved from https://jhumansoc-sc.kaznu.kz/index.php/1-eurasian/article/view/344

Lehtimäki, H., Sengupta, S., Piispanen, V.-V., & Henttonen, K. (2021). Social entrepreneurship as sustainability agency. In S. Teerikangas, T. Onkila, K. Koistinen, & M. Mäkelä (Eds.), Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency (pp. 168–179). Edward Elgar.

Nolt, J. (2017). Future Generations in Environmental Ethics. In S. M. Gardiner & A. Thompson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics (pp. 344–354). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199941339.013.28

O’Connor, S. (2022). Urban Development and Civic Activism in Kazakhstan: Green Space Preservation in the Shadow of Spectacle. Central Asian Affairs, 10(1), 52–72. https://doi.org/10.30965/22142290- bja10029

Palmer, C., McShane, K., & Sandler, R. (2014). Environmental ethics. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 39, 419–442. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-121112-094434

Peyrouse, S. (2022). The Nexus of Environmental Issues, Poverty, and Political Authoritarianism in Central Asia: What role for civil society organisations and the international community? Retrieved from https://iphronline.org/articles/the-nexus-of-environmental-issues-poverty-and-political-authoritarianism-in-central-asia-what-role-for-civil-society-organisations-and-the-international-community/

Priya, A. (2021). Case Study Methodology of Qualitative Research: Key Attributes and Navigating the Conundrums in Its Application. Sociological Bulletin, 70(1), 94–110. https://doi. org/10.1177/0038022920970318

Sabyrbekov, R., Overland, I., & Vakulchuk, R. (Eds.). (2023). Climate Change in Central Asia: Decarbonization, Energy Transition and Climate Policy. SpringerBriefs in Climate Studies. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29831-8

Sandler, R. (2017). Environmental Virtue Ethics: Value, Normativity, and Right Action. In S. M. Gardiner & A. Thompson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics (pp. 223–233). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199941339.013.20

Santos, F., Pache, A. C., & Birkholz, C. (2015). Making hybrids work: Aligning business models and organizational design for social enterprises. California Management Review, 57(3), 36–58. https:// doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2015.57.3.36

Sarbassov, Y., Sagalova, T., Tursunov, O., Venetis, C., Xenarios, S., & Inglezakis, V. (2019). Survey on household solid waste sorting at source in developing economies: A case study of Nur-Sultan City in Kazakhstan. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(22), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226496

Serikova, A., Baidakov, A., & Syrlybayeva, N. (2020). The organization of municipal solid waste collection, disposal and recycling in Kazakhstan. E3S Web of Conferences, 159. https://doi. org/10.1051/e3sconf/202015901010

Shulepina, N. (2019). Darmarka prednovogodnjaja, pervaja v Tashkente i Uzbekistane (Pre-New Year Darmarka, the first in Tashkent and Uzbekistan). Retrieved from https://sreda.uz/rubriki/ ecopravo/darmarka-prednovogodnyaya-pervaya-v-tashkente-i-uzbekistane/

Trevor, E. (2021). Kyrgyzstan: A journey towards sustainable waste management. Retrieved from https://www.valpak.co.uk/kyrgyzstan-a-journey-towards-sustainable-waste-management/

Tskhay, A. (2023). The Culture of Recycling, Re-use and Reduction: Eco-Activism and Entrepreneurship in Central Asia. In R. Sabyrbekov, I. Overland, & R. Vakulchuk (Eds.), Climate Change in Central Asia: Decarbonization, Energy Transition and Climate Policy (pp. 161–170). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Zhidebekkyzy, A., Moldabekova, A., & Amangeldiyeva, B. (2023). Pro-Environmental Behavior and Household Waste Sorting in Kazakhstan: an Empirical Analysis. Eurasian Journal of Economic and Business Studies, 1(67), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.47703/ejebs.v1i67.186