Diagnosis of solid waste management in the town of Dois Irmãos – Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

This paper describes a diagnosis of the municipal solid waste management system in the town of Dois Irmãos, which is within the metropolitan district of Porto Alegre, Brazil. An analysis is performed of data relating to the municipality such as population, budget allocated to waste management and the collection and recycling situation, going on to make an estimate of the potential for and operation of recycling and the final destination of the remaining waste, using gravimetric surveys and data held by the Department of the Environment. Dois Irmãos has a population of more than twenty-four thousand inhabitants who each produce an average quantity of 0.5 kg of solid waste per day. In 1995 the municipality introduced a recycling collection system, in addition to providing daily collection of organic waste. During these more than 13 years of operating and improving the process, the total proportion of recyclable solid waste held steady at just 18% of the total collected. This is considered to be due to the direct influence of citizens acting as environmental workers, separating waste at home, and quite probably practicing a policy of minimizing the creation of recyclable waste, of waste reduction and of recycling. It is also of note that changes in the population’s consumption habits have had an insignificant effect on the distribution of different classifications of solid waste in the municipality, with the proportion of organic waste holding steady at 82%. The low volume of recyclable solid waste entering the public waste collection system and the efficient recycling collection, aided by a well-structured environmental education network that encourages families to separate domestic waste at home, makes it possible to achieve meaningful results from sorting and reselling of recyclables, saving raw materials, water and energy, in addition to achieving meaningful indicators of social inclusion and creating employment and income.