The stagnation of public policies in the solid waste sector caused an increase in the amount of waste sent to inappropriate places in 2017. The return of dumps not only generates more impacts on the environment and on the health of the population, how does Brazil, by not increasing the recycling chain either, waste economic opportunities with garbage.
Calculations by the Brazilian Association of Public Cleaning Companies and Special Waste (Abrelpe) point out that in the last five years they were sent to dumps 45 millions of tons of recyclable materials, that could move more than R$ 3 billions a year.
"Recycling rates are stagnant. It is an area that is skating, despite having a huge potential for earnings and job creation, provided that the national solid waste policy is implemented", says Carlos Silva Filho, CEO of Abrelpe.
Among 2016 e 2017, the amount of waste sent to dumps increased 3%, second to most recent Solid Waste Overview from Brazil, released in August by the entity. the annual document, published there 15 years old, shows that 40,9% of all the garbage generated in Brazil has no correct destination.
National Solid Waste Policy
"The issue of solid waste has regressed in Brazil", says Silva Filho. For him, the failure to fully implement the National Solid Waste Policy, approved eight years ago, after working for two decades in the National Congress, can be explained by some factors.
"on one side, public spheres do not place solid waste policies on their priority agendas – on the contrary, they bypass it. From another, there is also a lack of pressure from citizens. While the private sector kind of waits for what's going to happen", says Silva Filho.
speech and practice
For him, a survey by Ibope illustrates the situation. Data collected in 2018 with 1.816 people in all regions reveal that 98% see recycling as something important. On the other hand, 75% answered that they do not separate their waste on a daily basis.. "There's still a big difference between talking about colored trash bins and actually getting your hands dirty."
The parallel with the water crisis in 2014 e 2015, that affected the Southeast, shows how the issue of garbage has not yet impacted people's habits. The generation of garbage per person in Brazil has grown 0,48% from 2016 for 2017. "In the water crisis, people lowered their water consumption, which remained low after the end of the drought. But that doesn't happen with garbage. The per capita generation even dropped in previous years due to the economic crisis. But it started to grow again.”
Debt Brazil
By the calculations of the National Union of Urban Cleaning Companies (Selurb), made from international data and examples, Brazil accumulated a kind of debt, in the amount of BRL 730 billion. "This is the amount that should be spent to remedy the pollution generated by landfills in the last decade", says Marcio Matheus, Selurb president. The account only considers the costs for removing garbage sent to inappropriate places, the decontamination of this soil and sending the waste to a suitable landfill. damage to health, the social and economic impacts did not enter into the account..
Matheus argues that it is necessary for Brazilian municipalities to move towards regionalized solutions – how did the United States, that built 1.400 regional landfills in 15 years old. E, the most important, create specific collections to deal with the garbage issue.
"The economic equation does not close for municipalities. it's unsustainable. City halls resist charging the polluter. Reverse logistics is currently in the city hall's cashier", affirms. For him, the consumer, commerce and industry also need to pay part of the bill..
According to the Urban Cleaning Sustainability Index (Islu), 61,6% of Brazilian municipalities have no source of revenue for the sector. But among cities that have some kind of fee or tariff for garbage collection and disposal, 70% dispose of solid waste properly.
Data
- The cost to remediate pollution generated by waste not properly disposed of already amounts to R$ 730 bi in a decade;
- 3.352 municipalities in the five regions, they do not correctly dispose of garbage collected in people's homes;
- 1.610 cities use dumps as the final destination for their solid waste;
- 29 millions of tons of solid waste go to inappropriate places in the country.
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