Waste treatment and disposal

The Company`s treatment of production and consumption waste is carried out at the Eco Centre facilities or Waste Management Complex. The facility ensures cost-efficient and environmentally safe recycling and treatment of drilling cuttings and fluids and is truly considered to be an example of the leading drilling waste management practice in the West-Qazaqstan Oblast.

The best available technologies are applied at the KPO Eco Centre facilities for treating production and consumption waste allowing not only reducing the volume and hazards of waste, but also extracting valuable components as well as treating waste for further reuse. Waste recovery to the process stream exercised by the Company is the best possible way to re-use the waste generated in drilling operations.

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

  1. Thermo-mechanical cutting cleaning facility (TCC),
  2. Rotary Kiln Incinerator (RKI),
  3. General Purpose Incinerator (GPI),
  4. Liquids Treatment Plant (LTP),
  5. Waste Segregation Unit (WSU).

During 2019, the following activities were completed at the Eco Centre:

Owing to separation of base oil and water from the treated oil-based drilling cuttings, in 2019 the quantity of KPO disposed waste was reduced by 15% from the originally generated volume.
In 2019, 12,507 tonnes of waste were treated, 1,621 tonnes of base oil and water were separated, and 9,375 tonnes of waste treated at the TCC were disposed at the Solid Industrial Waste Landfill.
By applying the technology of the treatment and neutralization of drilling and production waste at the Rotary Kiln Incinerator, the volume of waste (from the originally generated amount) was reduced by an average of 23%. In 2019, 9,672 tonnes of drilling and production waste were treated; 7,440 tonnes of waste treated at the Thermomechanical Cutting Cleaning Facility were disposed at the Solid industrial waste landfill.
Resulting from waste incineration in the Rotary Kiln Incinerator, quantity of waste was reduced by an average 91%. Over 2019, 883 tonnes of waste were sent for incineration, following which 84 tonnes of ash were disposed at the Solid industrial waste landfill.
In 2019, 6,373 tonnes of liquid waste were treated. The process resulted in 5,080 tonnes of treated brines and muds, which were sent for reuse — preparation of drilling brines and muds.
In 2019, 882 tonnes of 1,419 tonnes of solid domestic waste were sent to GPI for incineration, 164 tonnes including waste paper, metal scrap, glass and plastic were sorted for handing over to the specialist organizations for treatment and reuse. Only 89 tonnes of solid domestic waste were handed over to the specialist’s of organizations for disposal at the Solid Domestic Waste Landfill. At the end of 2019, 70 tonnes of solid domestic waste were disposed at the temporary storage sites.
12 cells of the Solid industrial Waste Landfill were capped and closed at the end of 2019.

Specialised contractors make their own decisions on the further waste handling methods once the waste is accepted from KPO. They report to KPO on a quarterly basis about the waste handed over to third parties. Depending on the type, specialised enterprises hand over the waste for treatment with subsequent production of consumer goods, demercurization, regeneration, heat treatment, incineration, physical and chemical treatment, dismantling into component parts with further transfer to concerned enterprises as recyclables.

Since 2011 until the end of 2019, for the whole period of the waste paper segregation, about 540 tonnes of the waste paper has been collected and transferred to local enterprises for production of consumer goods. The segregation of spent batteries was arranged in all Company office premises. In 2019, 67 kg of batteries were collected.

In accordance with the Article 301 of the RoQ Environmental Code which became effective on 01.01.2019 that prohibits disposal of waste plastic, plastic, polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate packaging, waste paper, cardboard, paper waste, cullet at the landfills, KPO carries out the segregation of these types of waste in rented buildings. These types of waste are handed over to specialized enterprises to be used as recyclables.

KPO continues the transfer of waste generated at the old Solid Waste Storage Site and spent drilling liquids to the Eco Centre’s Solid Industrial Waste Landfill. In 2019, the waste was continued to be moved from the old site for further treatment at the Thermo-mechanical Cutting Cleaning Facility, and Rotary Kiln Incinerator and disposed at the Solid Industrial Waste Landfill. The waste is disposed at the Landfill according to the RoQ environmental legislation requirements.

In 2019, 3,777 tonnes (as compared to 6,156 tonnes in 2018) were sent for treatment from the Solid waste and Spent Drilling Liquids Storage Site. In 2020, further processing of waste from the site will continue.

The KPO waste treatment methods in 2019, in tonnes

No.

Waste treatment techniques

Generated hazardous waste

Generated non-hazardous waste

Municipal waste

TOTAL

1

Available waste e at the beginning of 2019

321,255

2,073

0

323,328

2

Generated during the reporting year

53,482

2,955

1,349

57,786

3

Reused at the enterprise

6,256

0

0

6,256

4

Treated at facilities

26,081

95

9

31,610

5

Incineration in the General Purpose Incinerator

71

3

882

955

6

Disposed and buried at waste disposal facilities

27,843

0

0

27,843

7

Handover to specialised contractors

2,564

3,985

380

6,929

8

Available waste at the end of 2019

339,835

946

0

340,781

KPO waste is mainly produced during the wells drilling and workover activities. Concurrently, the water or oil base of the drilling cuttings depends on the type of the drilling mud used for well operations. The solid and liquid drilling waste generated in 2019 amounted to 26,196 tonnes (75% from the initially generated waste, i.e. initial waste volume before treatment).

Table below shows the main types of drilling waste broken down by the handling methods. As the Table shows, only water-based muds and cuttings are subject to disposal. Oil-based drilling cuttings are subject to burying after pre-treatment and extraction of the oil base.

Waste generated from well operations, by handling method, 2017-2019

No.

Type of waste

Generated quantity, tonnes

Handling method

2017

2018

2019

1

Spent water-based drilling mud

2,943

324

427

Sent for treatment at Liquid treatment plant (LTP)

4,471

1,251

1,014

Disposal

2

Water-based drilling cuttings

2,554

546

925

Burial

— 

— 

182

Heat treatment in the Rotary Kiln Incinerator (RKI)

3

Spent oil-based drilling mud

2,043

1,618

2,676

Treatment at the Thermo-mechanical Cutting Cleaning Facility (TCC) and Liquid Treatment Plant (LTP)

4

Oil-based drilling cuttings

12,808

8,049

9,022

Treated at the TCC with extraction of oil base, water and followed by the burial of the solid part

5

Spent brines

3,546

6,309

4,866

Treated at the Liquid Treatment Plant

353

578

2,837

Disposal

6

Oil cuttings

0

7

0

Heat treatment in the Rotary Kiln Incinerator (RKI)

7

Off spec oil

2

0

0

Handover to a specialised contractor