The correct disposal of the waste generated by human activities is one of the prevalent challenges that the world faces towards a sustainable development. The lack of suitable sites and the high cost of waste treatment have persuaded many municipalities to implement a policy for integrated waste management, which includes measures such as, source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting and final disposal in landfill. This study examined the alternatives for composting of the organic waste generated in the city of Bauru, in the state of São Paulo, which does not have a composting plant, and analyzed the environmental impacts of seven scenarios: current situation, in which all organic waste is disposed at the landfill; dispatch of the organic waste generated in the city to the closest municipality having a composting plant; construction of a composting plant in Bauru; use of home composting for 10%, 25%, 60% and 90% of organic waste. The method consisted of literature review, data collection among the company responsible for the waste management in the municipality, and the Life Cycle Assessment of the scenarios through the software IWM-2 for the Life Cycle Inventory and Recipe2008 conversion factors for the following impact categories: climate change, ozone depletion, particulate matter formation, and human and freshwater toxicity. The results showed that home composting must be followed by a reduction in the organic waste collection days, in order to have a positive effect in the greenhouse emissions derived from transportation and collection. Also home composting has a greater potential to reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per mass of waste composted in comparison with composting plants. The use of transfer station can have a positive effect on composting plants that are located in other municipalities.

The objectives of this study were to verify the viability of the photoinitiating system using curcumin as a photoinitiator and glycerol as a coinitiator, to analyze the thermal and morphological features of the polymers produced, and finally evaluate the possibility of removing toxic Ethyl-p-dimethylaminobenzoate from the photoinitiating system. Curcumin, an orange-yellow dye extracted from the rhizoids of the plant Curcuma longa, is known to be a common photosensitizer, and the type II photoinitiating system consisting of a dye and an amine is long known to be effective. In recent years, the production of biodiesel has increased, and consequently, so has the generation of its main by-product, glycerol. Thus, it becomes necessary to study ways to incorporate glycerol into products. Using thermoanalytical methods (Thermogravimetry, Differential Thermal Analysis, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry), Middle Infrared Spectroscopy, and Scanning Electronic Microscopy, it was possible to assess the thermal and morphological characteristics of the polymers produced, and compare whether the presence or lack of tertiary amine, as well as the addition of different molar ratios of glycerol, had any significant impact on these characteristics. Results suggested that neither the removal of tertiary amine nor the addition (in different proportions) of glycerol affected the thermal stability of the polymers. Also, removing the tertiary amine enhanced the total conversion degree of the polymers.

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