WASTE ACCUMULATION AND GEOECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TERRITORIES AROUND THE LANDFILLS IN KOKSHETAU

Abstract

Every year, the amount of household and industrial waste, which is stored in landfills, occupies vast areas, and hurts the environment increases. This work's goals are to analyze the accumulation of waste in Kokshetau using retrospective statistical data and assess the level of technogenic influence on the vegetation cover and soils of the territories near the Kokshetau landfills by interpreting satellite images of territories. In this research, the authors used retrospective analysis and remote sensing based on the normalized relative vegetation index (NDVI). Satellite images of vegetation from 2017 to 2021 were processed for the territories under consideration. A retrospective analysis of the waste accumulation showed that households accounted for the bulk of waste (80%). The dynamics of waste generation were inversely related to the number of waste processing enterprises. The interpretation of the images showed that the NDVI in the territory around landfill №1 varied in the range of 0.23 - 0.36 from 2017 to 2021, and this result indicated highly sparse vegetation and a high anthropogenic impact. In the territory around test site №2, the normalized relative vegetation index varied in the range from 0.44 - 0.30, the nitrogen index varied from 0.44 to 0.41, and the chlorophyll index ranged from 1.68 to 1.46 from 2017 to 2021. A decrease in the vegetation indicators and an increase in the area of problem zones indicate an annual increase in negative anthropogenic impacts.