Solid Waste In Brazil Research Articles

Occupational hazards of Brazilian solid waste workers: a systematic literature review.

In Brazil, urban cleaning professionals play an important role within a context characterized by annual increase of the garbage production. However, the job exposes such workers to various occupational hazards, an issue little discussed in the literature. To identify occupational hazards to which Brazilian solid workers are exposed, as well as factors associated with their minimization. A systematic review of the literature was performed in databases Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), and PubMed. Gray literature was also searched through Google Scholar and included studies published along a ten-year period (2006-2016) in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Twelve studies were located; the results showed that waste workers were exposed to biological, accidental, chemical, ergonomic, physical, and psychosocial risks. The risks declined with adherence to use of personal protective equipment and guidance for workers, employers, and population. Given the few studies in this field, more evidence-based research is necessary to serve as grounds for the development and implementation of public health policies aiming at reducing occupational risks among the studied population.

System dynamics applied to closed loop supply chains of desktops and laptops in Brazil: A perspective for social inclusion of waste pickers

The structure of reverse logistics for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is essential to minimize the impacts of their improper disposal. In this context, the Brazilian Solid Waste Policy (BSWP) was a regulatory milestone in Brazil, submitting WEEE to the mandatory implementation of reverse logistics systems, involving the integration of waste pickers on the shared responsibility for the life cycle of products. This article aims to measure the impact of such legal incentives and the bargaining power obtained by the volume of collected waste on the effective formalization of waste pickers. The proposed model evaluates the sustainability of supply chains in terms of the use of raw materials due to disposal fees, collection, recycling and return of some materials from desktops and laptops using system dynamics methodology. The results show that even in the absence of bargaining power, the formalization of waste pickers occurs due to legal incentives. It is important to ensure the waste pickers cooperatives access to a minimum amount, which requires a level of protection against unfair competition with companies. Regarding the optimal level of environmental policies, even though the formalization time is long, it is still not enough to guarantee the formalization of waste picker cooperatives, which is dependent on their bargaining power. Steel is the material with the largest decrease in acquisition rate of raw material.

Impactos Da Rastrabilidade Dos Resíduos Sólidos Perigosos na Atividade Empresarial

A Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos é um marco na questão da gestão e do gerenciamento dos resíduos sólidos no Brasil. Porém, poucas Unidades da Federação monitoram a rastreabilidade de resíduos sólidos perigosos. O objetivo geral do presente artigo é analisar até que ponto a ausência de rastreabilidade pode interferir ou não na localização de empreendimentos, podendo criar situação de favorecimento. A metodologia utilizada envolve a revisão da legislação ambiental; dos conceitos e institutos; e análise de dados. A ausência dos citados mecanismos em várias unidades da Federação demonstra ausência de Políticas Públicas para o correto gerenciamento do resíduo perigoso.

GESTÃO INTEGRADA DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS URBANOS: PERSPECTIVAS E DESAFIOS

A gestão integrada dos resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) justifica-se devido à situação de esgotamento e comprometimento de recursos naturais, dos problemas sociais, ambientais e econômicos de disposição final. A deficiência dos serviços de gestão de RSU tem gerado impactos negativos nas condições de vida e de bem-estar da população. Constatando os impactos ambientais que os RSU podem causar e a precariedade da situação atual em vários municípios brasileiros, alternativas são necessárias visando a melhoria da sua gestão, ao aumentar a eficiência e reduzir seus custos, colaborando com a preservação do meio ambiente. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar as principais tecnologias de gestão, valorização, tratamento e/ou disposição dos RSU utilizadas no Brasil e apontar alguns municípios do Sul do Brasil com modelos de gestão eficazes. A metodologia consistiu em uma revisão bibliográfica sobre as principais vantagens e desvantagens das tecnologias, abordando uma conceituação, características do processo e aspectos econômicos. Também foram pesquisados artigos sobre o tema e municípios com modelos de gestão eficazes na região Sul. Conclui-se que os municípios são propulsores do desenvolvimento socioeconômico e devem adotar as diretrizes aprovadas como forma de implementar suas ações nessa área, sendo a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos um instrumento norteador.

MSW Management in São Paulo City and the National Policy of Solid Waste

The objective of this paper is to present a brief overview of the current situation of solid waste in Brazil, as well as the importance of the National Policy of Solid Waste as the main regulatory milestone of the country, clarifying the role of society, government and the private sector. Moreover, this law is essential for determining the closing of dumps, encouraging municipal consortia and establishing a hierarchy for solid waste management through waste reduction at source, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal. Also, it aims to understand how São Paulo, the most important city of Brazil, is currently facing the problem and what are the scenarios and proposals indicated in the Integrated Management Solid Waste Plan of the city to get the sustainable solid waste management of São Paulo in operation.

Applying life cycle assessment to support environmentally sustainable waste management strategies in Brazil

This paper aims to investigate sustainable waste management solutions for the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, based on a life cycle approach. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed by using the LCA-IWM methodology. The model was adapted to the Brazilian solid waste context and to the local characteristics, including waste composition, electricity mix and regulations. The annual amount of waste generated was the functional unit adopted. Eight municipal solid waste management strategies were evaluated. Scenarios including mixed waste collection and source separated collection as well as materials recovery and energy from waste were investigated. Scenarios were ranked based on the LCA results. Sensitivity analysis was carried out by varying the electricity mix. The results indicate that the current situation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Rio de Janeiro presents the worst performance in terms of aggregated environmental burdens, indicating the urgency for implement new strategies toward a more environmentally friendly and sustainable MSW management system. It is noted that the better LCA performances were obtained in scenarios with high separately collection rates. Among them, the scenario based on recyclables recovery and anaerobic digestion shows to be a promising strategy to improve environmental sustainability. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the ranking of scenarios was not affected by changes in the electricity mix. From the results, the investment in source separated waste collection and materials recovery is the most environmentally friendly MSW strategy for Rio de Janeiro. In addition, scenarios with an emphasis in materials recovery presented higher environmental benefits than the alternatives focused on energy generation.

Challenges for the Sustainable Management of Municipal Solid Waste in Brazil

One of the biggest challenges for Brazilian cities is properly nmanaging the more than 180 000 tons of municipal solid waste collected daily in the country. This article shows how this challenge is being faced in Brazil. There are legal and regulatory instruments in place, in particular the Basic Sanitation National Policy (Law no. 11.445/2007) and the Solid Waste Law (Law no. 12.305/2010). However, the targets set by the National Solid Waste Policy to put an end to dumps and dispose of waste in landfills only from June 2014 were not met. There are still dumps in over 3000 cities, which have a significant impact on environmental and public health. The universalized provision of selective collection services is present in only 20% of Brazilian cities. The large and growing market for recycling is based on the work of thousands of waste pickers, who work on the streets, live in precarious conditions, are subject to environmental hazards and put their own health at risk. Noteworthy is the selective collection model operated jointly by municipalities and waste picker organizations, formed into associations and cooperatives, and the lack of compensation for their services to industry, governments and society.

The importance of Extended Producer Responsibility and the National Policy of Solid Waste in Brazil

This paper presents an overview of the current situation of the reverse logistics schemes in Brazil and the importance of the National Policy of Solid Waste enacted in 2010, the main regulatory milestone in the country. In addition, the work intends to comprehend extended producer responsibility (EPR) in Europe as an environmental principle, the representative directives related to this issue, the targets, the economic incentives and their consequences. Assuredly, Brazilian cities can use the European EPR schemes as parameters to set up the guidelines in short and long terms. This article leads to the conclusion that the EPR regulation and economic instruments can promote diverting of waste from landfills to reusing, recycling and recovering treatments. The recommendations of this study are to introduce the possibility of a circular economy in Brazil modelled on the European EPR concept, through public policies and economic instruments in order to upgrade the waste hierarchy.

The importance of Extended Producer Responsibility and the National Policy of Solid Waste in Brazil

This paper presents an overview of the current situation of the reverse logistics schemes in Brazil and the importance of the National Policy of Solid Waste enacted in 2010, the main regulatory milestone in the country. In addition, the work intends to comprehend extended producer responsibility (EPR) in Europe as an environmental principle, the representative directives related to this issue, the targets, the economic incentives and their consequences. Assuredly, Brazilian cities can use the European EPR schemes as parameters to set up the guidelines in short and long terms. This article leads to the conclusion that the EPR regulation and economic instruments can promote diverting of waste from landfills to reusing, recycling and recovering treatments. The recommendations of this study are to introduce the possibility of a circular economy in Brazil modelled on the European EPR concept, through public policies and economic instruments in order to upgrade the waste hierarchy.

Evolução e desafios no gerenciamento dos resíduos sólidos urbanos no Brasil

The generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) has increased over time in Brazil, along with changes in waste quality, which gives rise to discussions regarding the importance of properly managing and disposing of these wastes. Currently, issues involving the management of MSW have a central focus in carrying out public policies. Effective implementation of the National Solid Waste Policy (NSWP) - Law no. 12,305/2010 is expected to bring changes in the panorama of solid waste in Brazil. This work is a review of literature that aims to address some aspects of the MSW in Brazil, considering some changes expected to occur in the public sector after NSWP implementation. Some data is presented and discussed in order to foster an understanding of the evolution of MSW management in Brazil and to highlight challenges for the NSWP compliance with regulation, such as the expansion of the collection and treatment of MSW, more active societal involvement in waste-separation processes and the difficulty of eradicating open dumps and replacing them with landfills. In general, while there were improvements in MSW management, they were insufficient to address the changes proposed by the NSWP in order to establish integrated MSW management that would be effective and sustainable for both the environment and society. This indicates the need for urgent change in the structure of the MSW sector in Brazil.

More inclusive and cleaner cities with waste management co-production: Insights from participatory epistemologies and methods

With over half of the world's population living in cities, and with rising consumption, the generation of solid waste has become a ubiquitous and serious problem in urban agglomerations. City administrations are facing social, cultural, environmental, and economic challenges when planning solid waste solutions. The paper discusses the participatory epistemology and methodology experience resulting from inclusive solid waste management in Brazil. In the global South countless informal and organized solid waste collectors are engaged in resource recovery, classification of discarded waste, and redirection of recyclables towards the recycling sector. Their work is mostly unrecognized and the service is not remunerated. Governmental support to include recycling cooperatives in selective waste collection varies significantly in scope and quality. In theory, the Brazilian solid waste management legislation supports recycling cooperatives and promotes avoidance, reuse, and recycling as a primary solution tackling waste. In praxis, however, many challenges towards inclusive resource recovery and awareness building about waste avoidance and diversion are yet to be overcome. Action-oriented, participatory qualitative research, conducted with recycling cooperatives and local governments in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, has revealed some of the environmental and social contributions, as well as challenges arising in planning, policy design, and implementation of waste management. The research applies a feminist and post-colonial theoretical lense and demonstrates a wealth of knowledge co-generation on waste management. The participatory method underlines important social aspects to consider in planning and policy design for inclusive waste management. The final conclusion of this paper is that selective household waste collection with recycling cooperatives creates unique opportunities to build more inclusive and cleaner cities.

Technical potential of electricity production from municipal solid waste disposed in the biggest cities in Brazil: landfill gas, biogas and thermal treatment.

This article presents an analysis of possibilities for electrical energy production by using municipal solid waste disposed in the biggest Brazilian cities. Currently, the municipal solid waste in Brazil is collected and disposed of at landfills, but there are also other technologies, which in addition to dealing with the garbage can also provide benefits in terms of energy provision. The following scenarios were studied in this work: electricity production from landfill gas (reference scenario); incineration of all municipal solid waste; anaerobic digestion of organic waste and incineration of refuse-derived fuel fractions after being separated in separation plants. According to this study, the biggest cities in Brazil generate about 18.9 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year (2011), of which 51.5% is biogenic matter. The overall domestic consumption of electricity is 480,120 GWh y(-1) in Brazil and the municipal solid waste incineration in the 16 largest cities in the country could replace 1.8% of it using incinerators. The city of São Paulo could produce 637 GWh y(-1) with landfill gas, 2368 GWh y(-1) with incineration of municipal solid waste and 1177 GWh y(-1) with incineration of refuse-derived fuel. The latter two scenarios could replace 27% and 13.5% of the residential electrical energy consumption in the city. This shows that thermal treatment might be a viable option of waste-to-energy in Brazil.

The challenges for solid waste management in accordance with Agenda 21: a Brazilian case review.

This paper aims to evaluate the suitability of the Brazilian solid waste policy (BSWP) with global Agenda 21 and the challenges of implementing the BSWP in municipalities. For this, a review of the principles that guided the creation of this policy was performed to demonstrate that international pressures were important in determining its effectiveness. The contradictory relationship between the satisfactory legal framework that established the Brazilian waste management policy and its weakened implementation in the municipalities is also examined . To illustrate the difficulties faced at the local level, a case study involving municipalities that compose the state of Espírito Santowe was undertaken. In this state, the municipalities signed terms of environmental commitment with supervisory agencies who undertook, within a pre-established schedule, to implement a set of actions to shape the proper management of solid waste, adapted to the requirements of national policy and the guidelines of Agenda 21. Finally, the various difficulties in meeting the requirements are discussed. It is necessary and urgent that Brazil finds a way to coordinate the mechanisms of an innovative and well formulated legal instrument to ensure the successful implementation of solid waste management at the local level to achieve the environmental, economic and social objectives.

Logística reversa como meio de instrumentalização organizacional do desenvolvimento sustentável

Logística reversa como meio de instrumentalização organizacional do desenvolvimento sustentável

TÉCNICAS DE RECICLAGEM E MARMORIZAÇÃO DE PAPEL

A study on the gravimetric composition of municipal solid waste in Brazil, has the role as the third place in the ranking of waste with 13.1% of the total composition. The objective of this paper is to present a technique of marbling paper recycling and using Basic carboxymethylcelulose input. First acquired up to 50 sheets of paper already used and cut into small pieces. Subsequently, they were placed in plastic bucket with about two liters of water. This mixture was allowed to stand for 24 hours. For technical marbling of the recycled paper used is carboxymethylcelulose, water, oil-based ink of various colors. The result of the processing methodology is described in a uniform paper, A4 format with a fine rough texture throughout leaf structure, good mechanical resistance to traction without the aroma a pale white color (depending on the paper to be recycled), suitable writing and other applications. The technique of marbling, adds value to the material and suggests different applicability, including artistic.

Recycling in Brazil: Challenges and prospects

This article presents a comparative analysis of the performance in formal and informal areas that deal with solid waste in Brazil. The article demonstrates that there has been significant progress in areas related to recycling and that this progress has been based mainly on informality and on the precarious labour conditions for the pickers of recyclable materials. The article also focuses on the problems found in the model for waste recovery that is being implemented in Brazil and that is based on allocation of precarious waste recovery facilities; this model has mostly small operational capabilities even in large municipalities. These problems are discussed in contrast to the great challenges imposed by the new legal framework of the country. Finally, the article proposes a categorisation of the technological models of material recovery facilities (MRFs) based on their degree of automation and nominal capacities in a manner similar to that used worldwide for incineration plants.

The electric energy potential of landfill biogas in Brazil

The increases in a country's energy capacity are related to its gross domestic product (GDP). In Brazil, increases in income and the consumption of goods and services have led to an increase in the generation of solid waste (SW), which is sent to landfills as a method of treatment and final disposal. The purpose of this study was to facilitate an increase in energy generation from renewable resources, specifically from landfills via thermal biogas plants, and the research was divided into two phases. The first phase involved the assessment of the potential population size contributing to the landfill, which could result in the installation of a financially viable enterprise to generate electricity in Brazil. Next, an estimate of the costs associated with the generation and collection of solid waste in Brazil was predicted by GDP prognoses, the latter being in accordance with the National Energy Balance (Balanço Energético Nacional – BEN) plan created by the Mines and Energy Ministry of Brazil (Ministério de Minas e Energia do Brasil – MME). The net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) of each enterprise scenario was used in the first stage to assess the plan's financial viability. In the second stage, estimation curves such as logistics, decreasing rate of growth, and logarithmic curves were used to establish relationships between the generation scenarios and the projected collection of SW and projected GDP. Thus, a range of possible landfill biogas/methane generation values and installed energy capacities were created, considering the extreme maximum and minimum values. These values were related to the energy sources from residual fuels reported by BEN. The results demonstrated that such values still represented a small percentage (0.00020% in 2010 and 0.44496–0.81042% in 2030) of the projected energy generation from residual fuels. Thus, an urgent need was identified to formulate policies that would encourage landfills as a source of renewable energy, broadening the number of financially viable initiatives for energy generation from landfill biogas for populations of fewer than 200,000 inhabitants.

LIXO DOMICILIAR BRASILEIRO: MODELOS DE GESTÃO E IMPACTOS AMBIENTAIS1

The question of management excellence for the final disposal of solid waste in Brazil has become a recurring theme in many segments of society and among experts. In addition to sanitary problem, the waste disposal management has vivid interfaces with the environmental issue and highlights as fundamental procedure for local authorities. Overall, the monitoring of waste calls for further equipment lacking in technical content (lixoes) or, for landfills whose management is also subject to technical objections. The escalation in the generation of municipal waste has led to increasing scarcity of land for disposal, suggesting, for incineration as a solution for the disposal of waste. However, the thermal process inserts environmentally complicatingelements, implies a technical and efficient public service, assumptions that affect decisively in the implementation of incinerators. The Brazilian domestic waste, one of the largest amounts of a world scale, requests a management model that prioritizes the review of the processes that generate waste, starting with the habits of consumption, and also must have recycling policies proposals. Dismissing these strategies, hardly the Brazilian household waste will no longer be what it is: a controversial issue that does not fit the optimal management of waste.

A comparison of two models for dealing with urban solid waste: Management by contract and management by public–private partnership

In work, we compared two models for dealing with urban solid waste in Brazil, namely, management by contract and management by public–private partnership. Management by contract, which is widely used by the public sector (municipalities) for urban solid waste collection and disposal and for acquiring goods and services for periods not greater than 60 months, is governed by Federal Law 8.666/93. Management by public–private partnership is governed by Federal Law 11.079/04 for contracts worth more than US$11,000,000 and involves costs for the private partner and public partner. The financial return for the private partner must be clearly delineated and the contract should last from 5 to 35 years. Management by public–private partnership that involves the management of municipal solid waste is very recent in Brazil. For this reason, the comparison between the two forms of management of municipal solid waste (management by contract and management by public–private partnership) described in this work is unprecedented in this country. Both of these models are used in the municipality of São Bernardo do Campo in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. For this study, information was gathered through semi-structured interviews with public works managers in São Bernardo do Campo, with members of an Association of Recyclable Material Collectors and with managers of a company contracted by the São Bernardo do Campo city hall, and also by researching public documents provided by the city hall. The interviews with the managers of the municipality of São Bernardo do Campo, the Association and the company were held in the headquarters of each institution. The documents analyzed, such as the plan for dealing with municipal solid waste, contracts and bids were made available electronically. Analysis of the results indicated that management by a public–private partnership was more advantageous for dealing with urban solid waste than management by contract since the former provided a strong selective collection program, reduced the amount of solid waste sent to sanitary embankments, led to the recovery an area of land previously degraded by the incorrect disposal of urban solid waste and stimulated the installation of an energy recovery unit.

Analysis of potential for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in municipal solid waste in Brazil, in the state and city of Rio de Janeiro

This paper examines potential changes in solid waste policies for the reduction in GHG for the country of Brazil and one of its major states and cities, Rio de Janeiro, from 2005 to 2030. To examine these policy options, trends in solid waste quantities and associated GHG emissions are derived. Three alternative policy scenarios are evaluated in terms of effectiveness, technology, and economics and conclusions posited regarding optimal strategies for Brazil to implement. These scenarios are been building on the guidelines for national inventories of GHG emissions (IPCC, 2006) and adapted to Brazilian states and municipalities’ boundaries. Based on the results, it is possible to say that the potential revenue from products of solid waste management is more than sufficient to transform the current scenario in this country into one of financial and environmental gains, where the negative impacts of climate change have created a huge opportunity to expand infrastructure for waste management.