Solid Waste Management In Brazil Research Articles

Evaluation of the efficiency of urban solid waste management in Brazil by data envelopment analysis and possible variables of influence

AbstractThis article has the general objective of estimating the efficiency of urban solid waste management in 940 Brazilian municipalities through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique and has specific objectives: (i) to estimate efficiency scores; (ii) to compare the performance between different groups of municipalities; and (iii) to analyze the profile of efficient municipalities from the perspective of the guidelines of Law 12,305/2010 and socio-economic and environmental indicators. The technique used was DEA with output-oriented and variable scale to return modeling. The results showed higher efficiency scores in the municipalities with populations above 500,000 inhabitants. The score variation ranged from 0.5 (municipalities with populations <10,000 inhabitants) to 0.9 (municipalities with more than 500,000 inhabitants). Of the sample set, only 12.34% of the municipalities were considered efficient, and when analyzing the efficient group, it was found that adherence to legislation was not a major factor in achieving efficiency. Graphical abstract

Production and Coprocessing of Refuse-Derived Fuel: A Review

Objective: To review and synthesize the existing knowledge on the production and co-processing of waste-derived fuel, with a focus on the reality of solid waste management in Brazil. Method: This is a narrative review of the literature based on scientific articles available in bibliographic databases such as Scopus and ScienceDirect, as well as technical documents prepared by Brazilian governmental agencies. Results and Conclusion: Studies conducted in the country show that scenarios involving sanitary landfills, along with recycling and composting, have proven more viable in the transition to eco-efficiency. On the other hand, the energy potential of waste-derived fuel produced from urban solid waste has been explored with positive results in replacing fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emissions. However, it is necessary to ensure strict control of environmental impacts and to carry out comprehensive studies to assess the viability of co-processing in different regions of the country. Research Implications: The research contributes to the existing literature, emphasizing the performance of waste treatment techniques that can bring significant environmental gains to a country that still faces major problems related to solid waste management.

Life cycle sustainability assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis: selection of a strategy for municipal solid waste management in Brazil

Life cycle sustainability assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis: selection of a strategy for municipal solid waste management in Brazil

Regionalisation studies for municipal solid waste management in Brazil

Regionalisation studies for municipal solid waste management in Brazil

Transitioning towards a sustainable circular city: How to evaluate and improve urban solid waste management in Brazil.

A circular city (CC) promotes circular economy (CE) principles. Efficient urban solid waste management (USWM) strategies are essential for promoting a CE at the municipal level. New tools are needed to evaluate waste management (WM) and increase the reuse and recycling of materials to accelerate the transition towards a CC. These tools could assist decision and policymakers in adopting, implementing, and monitoring circular practices. This study proposes creating an index (USWM-index) to evaluate WM in urban areas and discuss how it could be better managed in future sustainable circular cities in Brazil. The index allows city managers to integratively and sustainably assess their USWM. Decision-makers can also use the index to set goals and objectives for recycling and reusing generated waste in cities. The index comprises 19 indicators and 51 sub-indicators. These elements were divided into five groups: Operational, Environmental, Political-economic, Educational, and Social. Cities can assess their performance in each group by using the USWM-index. The index was applied to four Brazilian cities. All cities had their USWM classified as average, and they did not have initiatives to transition to sustainable circular cities regarding WM. This study presents guidelines for transitioning from a linear city to a sustainable circular city in terms of WM.

Municipal solid waste management decision-making during COVID-19 pandemic: a comparison between Brazil and Portugal

Decisions related to waste management were affected to contain the advance of the new coronavirus pandemic. Different measures have been adopted between countries around the world. This study aims to assess changes in decision-making on solid waste management in Brazil and Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the socioeconomic differences and the context of waste management in each country before the health crisis. A literature review was carried out on scientific bases, PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Differences were noted in decisions and guidelines for good practices in waste management, with measures being observed in a decentralized manner in Brazil, differently from what was observed in Portugal. In this way, the understanding of urban waste management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil becomes complex, in addition to the territorial extension and the diverse social composition, due to the decentralization of decision-making, while Portugal centralizes decisions related to waste management and has a smaller population and territorial extension.

Solid waste policy in Brazil: learnings and challenges after a decade of implementation

The Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy (NSWP) was established in 2010. This article evaluates the NSWP influence on generation, collection, sorting and treatment of household solid waste (HSW), healthcare solid waste and construction and demolition (C&D) solid waste. We evaluated, by a segmented regression analysis, whether Brazilian per capita HSW generation changed after the NSWP. We found a statistical rupture on HSW generation rate, which decreased from 2012 to 2017. In contrast, more than 65% of HSW were disposed of in landfill in the last years, exceeding 80% in 2017, and there was a low efficacy of solid waste sorting at household level. The disposal of about 50% of the healthcare solid waste and 70% of the C&D solid waste are unknown. The solid waste management in Brazil has not shown optimistic advances in recent years despite the existence of the NSWP.

The challenge of urban solid waste management in Brazil

The National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) and its regulation originated a new reference for the integrated and sustainable solid waste management in the country and new challenges for the implementation and improvement of the selective collection service provision in the municipalities. The purpose of this research is to identify the efficiency level of urban solid waste management in the Brazilian capitals during the period from 2002 to 2016. To measure the efficiency, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique was used. The sample consisted of 20 Brazilian capitals. After measuring efficiency, the logistic regression technique was used to measure the contribution of each variable used in the DEA technique. As a result, it was observed that the number of materials recovered is very low compared to the number of materials collected, the municipality that collected the most materials was Vitória in 2015 and the municipality that recovered the most waste was Florianópolis in 2013.

Pollution Credit Certificates Theory: An Analysis on the Quality of Solid Waste Management in Brazil

Purpose: This paper aims to introduce an economic instrument called Theory of Pollution Credit Certificates in the management of municipal solid waste in Brazil, in order to create opportunities to achieve the goal established in the above mentioned policy at lowest possible social costs. Methodology/Approach: The methodology adopted has as a starting point the “constructo” of a scenario in which a city comprised of five brazilian districts produces its urban solid waste made up of 50% organic material. In the proposed scenario, similar to what happens in practice, a fee for collection and treatment of organic material would be charged for two different situations. Findings: The result showed that the use of Pollution Credit Certificates Theory has a better cost-effectiveness for solid waste management because it allows reaching the environmental goal at a lower cost to society. Research Limitation/Implication: Subjectivity of the analysis, due to the “constructo” proposition in the studies. Originality/Value of paper: From the results obtained, we inferred that the use of the Pollution Certificates Theory for the management of brazilian municipal solid waste benefits from economies of scale as it allows in the scenario determined, that districts sell their spaces at the landfill and parallel to this, to promote the practice of composting organic waste in the municipality.

Transitioning to a circular economy in developing countries: A collaborative approach for sharing responsibilities in solid waste management of a Brazilian craft brewery

The linear model practiced in developing countries as Brazil to solid waste management can no longer absorb the amount of waste generated by the cities’ economic activities, and it hinders the self-recovery ability of the environment leading to environmental problems. Consequently, it is necessary a transition to a circular economy model so that environmental problems may be avoided. Brazilian authorities have already been mobilized to seek ways to transitioning, and one way is centered on reverse logistics and shared responsibility for solid waste management laid down in Law No. 12,305/2010. However, this transition does not occur smoothly due to solid waste management in Brazil involves different segments of society, which implies different responsibilities for each segment, as well as a good interaction between them, but there is not an adequate approach to define the responsibilities. Therefore, this study seeks to develop a collaborative approach capable of defining responsibilities towards solid waste management. The proposed approach embedded three methods: Value Focused Thinking, Flexible and Interactive Tradeoff, and Shapley value. The approach was applied to a craft brewery located in a northeastern Brazilian city. The findings show that segments were able to define sustainable responsibilities for the tactical performance of solid waste management in transitioning to a circular economy.

Efficiency of Public Spending in Solid Waste Management: Analyzing Distinct Aspects of How Municipalities Operate and Optimize Resources

This study aims to analyze the endogenous variables that influence the solid waste management in Brazil. Applying a two-stage data envelopment analysis model, the study encourages discussion on the management of municipal solid waste in developing countries. In addition, this research contributes to the evaluation of efficient public resources, analyzes the efficiency of public spending and distinct aspects regarding how municipalities operate and optimize resources. Results show that the coefficients provide strong evidence that efficiency is affected by the form of waste management and corroborates the literature that highlights this relationship. The results provide insight into the structure of the solid waste collection function, and that preliminarily provides the possibility of analyzing the benchmark identification.

Policy analysis for sustainable refuse-derived fuel production in Espírito Santo, Brazil

As municipal landfills are still the prevailing option for solid waste management in Brazil, there is a high possibility to recover combustible materials from both municipal and industrial waste streams with high calorific value through Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). RDF can be utilized as substitute fuels in cement and other industries that could, in turn, reduce energy consumption and the landfill space for waste disposal. However, relevant policies for use of RDF in Brazil are unclear due to the lack of systematic socioeconomic assessment concerning cost, benefit, and risk aspects. This paper is aimed to present a system dynamics modeling analysis to estimate the availability of potential recyclable waste streams from municipal and industrial sectors for RDF production in Brazil and discuss possible policy interventions. The model was simulated based on a 20-year timeframe in accordance with possible waste management policies in Espírito Santo (a Brazilian state). The results provide the annual waste availability from four different routes with respect to the pessimistic, intermediate, and optimistic scenarios considered. With the partial implementation of the actions indicated in the proposed solid waste management policy, it is envisioned that there will be sufficient waste streams for RDF production under dynamic uncertainties, given the limited cost-benefit-risk trade-off assessment. In addition to the direct benefits of sustainable RDF production as a substitute for fossil fuels in the cement industry, the indirect environmental benefits are salient as the regulations for circular economy can be functional in the future.

Democracy, Development and Legislative Policies for Recyclable Waste: Brazilian Case

The Solid Waste National Policy (SWNP) is the main legislative instrument for of solid waste management in Brazil. From them, states and municipalities should legislate about local solid waste management, within a maximum period of four years from the validity of the Federal Law. After eight years from Brazilian legal policy institution, it is possible to perceive the lack of commitment of the local administrations with this subject. In this way, there are municipalities that have not yet legislated about this theme. The objective of this study is to analyze the existing legislation on solid waste in three Brazilian municipalities with focus on the selective collection of recyclable materials and the real place occupied by waste pickers figure in this laws. In this way, is there compliance of this cases of study with federal legislation? The study shows the municipalities legislation from the study and the meaning of this for recyclable waste pickers and selective waste collectioThe Solid Waste National Policy (SWNP) is the main legislative instrument for of solid waste management in Brazil. From them, states and municipalities should legislate about local solid waste management, within a maximum period of four years from the validity of the Federal Law. After eight years from Brazilian legal policy institution, it is possible to perceive the lack of commitment of the local administrations with this subject. In this way, there are municipalities that have not yet legislated about this theme. The objective of this study is to analyze the existing legislation on solid waste in three Brazilian municipalities with focus on the selective collection of recyclable materials and the real place occupied by waste pickers figure in this laws. In this way, is there compliance of this cases of study with federal legislation? The study shows the municipalities legislation from the study and the meaning of this for recyclable waste pickers and selective waste collection

A system dynamics modelling approach for municipal solid waste management and financial analysis

In face of the population and economic growth of the 20th century, solid waste management (SWM) has become one of the most critical public policy issues challenging state and local governments. Although some developed countries are advanced in this matter, the regulatory acts that rule solid waste management in some developing countries is very recent. Public managers should have modelling and simulation tools at hand in order to make sound decisions, grounded on data and projections. This paper presents a System Dynamics (SD) model for municipal solid waste management which provides a comprehensive view of the involved resources, the destinations of waste and the cost structure of the service/system. Existing similar studies do not provide this extensive view, including the various resources involved (staff, fleet, other assets), the different destinations for waste, the different recycling streams and associated revenues and, specially, the cost structure, altogether, in the same model. Another branch of models concerns the assessment and optimization of specific policies, such as waste disposal charging fees (WDCF), which is not the aim of this study. Its main contribution is to present a financial planning tool for managers, allowing a scenario analysis to support strategic or tactic decisions, such as capacity expansions, investments in operational improvement, and so on. The modular design of the model aims at providing capability of generalization and application to different contexts and regions. As a case study, the context of a Brazilian city of 230,000 inhabitants was modelled and scenarios for 10 years were proposed. The scenario that presented better results with feasible investments prescribes an increase from 8.5% to 15% in the public collection of dry waste together with a productivity improvement of the sorting process. The simulations showed that the revenues from the recyclables do not cover the expenditures of the service provider and also allowed pointing out scenarios that make the provider less dependent of governmental subsidy. The results allowed proposing an extended conceptual SD model to be tested in future works, containing mechanisms suitable to the studied context for influencing recycling behaviour. Solid waste management in Brazil and in other developing countries is incipient and some managers do not have formal education in management. The improvement of managers’ awareness about the cost structure of the SWM system represents a relevant social implication of this study.

The perception of municipal managers on the management of urban solid waste

The solid waste management in Brazil is supported by the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) and, in the case of municipal waste, the responsibility lies for municipalities. The aim of this research was to describe the perception of the managers of the municipalities of the South Region of Rio Grande do Sul regarding solid waste management. Through the application of a questionnaire addressed to the managers of the cities, difficulties were identified: the lack of technical and financial resources for the implementation of the instruments proposed by the PNRS, such as the Municipal Integrated Solid Waste Management Plans (PMGIRS) and selective collection of municipal solid waste. In addition, there were found problems as the lack of collaboration of the population for the functioning of collection systems and difficulties in the insertion of cooperatives and associations of collectors of recyclable materials within the management cycle. Despite the problems faced, managers recognize the importance of integrated solid waste management to improve management and planning of actions, to promote environmental quality and public health and as a method to reduce costs and raise funds.

Energy recovery from municipal solid waste of intermunicipal public consortia identified in São Paulo State.

The main reasons, which this research is based on, are evidenced by the need of technical, political, economic and socioenvironmental coordination for the municipal solid waste management in Brazil and in the State of São Paulo. Most of the counties do not have adequate size to promote the management of MSW, so it's necessary to perform a consortia to do it. Therefore, it was necessary to characterize the current State of Sao Paulo consortial arrangements considering the environment (including sanitation, waste, water resources, among others). The scale of waste generation and the total population involved in these consortia were also considered. The energy potential of municipal solid waste was evaluated considering two possible technologies: The burning of landfill biogas in engines and the incineration in plants with Rankine cycle. It was identified that the sum of consortia energy potential was 1,454,336 MWh y-1 (landfill biogas), and 2,715,925 MWh y-1 (incineration). It is intended that such results provide significant information and encourage interaction between the different agents involved in the intermunicipal arrangements. It is expected that the characterisation and calculation of energy potential will stimulate future studies about new consortia approaches that consider energy recovery in their projects.

OS OBSTÁCULOS PARA UMA EFETIVA POLÍTICA DE GESTÃO DOS RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS NO BRASIL

A gestão de resíduos sólidos, no Brasil, é deficitária por falhas políticas e normativas. O crescimento populacional e a inovação tecnológica aumentam a geração de resíduos, mas o gerenciamento adequado dos resíduos pode ser realizado a partir de normas efetivas. Por outro lado, o processo de elaboração das leis a partir do envolvimento de atores e de interesses divergentes prejudica a efetividade de sua implementação. Partindo desse pressuposto, o processo de elaboração normativa e regulamentar brasileiro deve ser avaliado na tentativa de identificar pontos falhos que possam ser melhorados. Interessante ainda será na proposição de melhorias a tal sistema, por meio de um estudo comparado com o sistema europeu, que tem demonstrado sucesso na implementação de sua política para gestão de resíduos. Sendo assim, este artigo analisou a elaboração normativa paralelamente à Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos - PNRS - no Brasil e com a Diretiva 2008/98/CE do Parlamento Europeu e do Conselho da União Europeia. Fica evidente, a partir dos instrumentos da PNRS, a inabilidade dos sistemas deliberativos de tomada de decisão no Brasil, como a demora na oficialização do Plano Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, na assinatura dos acordos setoriais e as lições que poderiam ser retiradas da prática europeia nesse setor.

Contribuições para a evolução do gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos urbanos no Brasil com base na experiência Européia

RESUMO: Esse trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar dados relevantes sobre o gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) na Europa de forma a se estabelecer paralelos e subsidiar a discussão no Brasil. É apresentada uma contextualização da situação atual da gestão dos resíduos sólidos urbanos no Brasil, onde os efeitos da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos já se fazem sentir, sobretudo com o aumento da disposição final de RSU em aterros sanitários, predominantemente nas regiões metropolitanas. A reciclagem no país, em grande parte, ainda baseia-se na coleta informal por catadores ou na ação de organizações privadas. Na Europa, a partir da Diretiva 1999/31/EC, que estabeleceu metas para a disposição de resíduos em aterros sanitários, e da Diretiva 94/62/EC, sobre recolhimento de embalagens, a gestão de RSU se alterou profundamente. São apresentados dados das tecnologias predominantes de tratamento e disposição final de RSU e alguns mecanismos para implementação da mudança de cenário na Europa. O exemplo suíço é detalhado, mostrando como a cobrança de tarifas impulsiona as ações da população. É preciso reconhecer que o gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos urbanos RSU tem que ser planejado da coleta até o destino final, utilizando e integrando diferentes tecnologias de tratamento, de acordo com as características locais. É relevante para o Brasil a avaliação criteriosa das soluções disponíveis, do ponto de vista técnico e operacional, considerando fortemente a sua aplicabilidade local.

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.

GESTÃO DOS RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS NO BRASIL E SEUS REBATIMENTOS EM NATAL, BRASIL

GESTÃO DOS RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS NO BRASIL E SEUS REBATIMENTOS EM NATAL, BRASIL