Charges to Generators For Solid Waste Management Services: An Analysis of The Financial Sustainability of Brazilian Municipalities

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the generator charging models established in Brazilian cities, evaluating the effect on financial self-sufficiency in urban solid waste management (USWM) services. Theoretical framework: Brazilian municipalities have faced difficulties in implementing charging for USWM services, which is based on the polluter-pay principle. Although national legislation makes charging possible, the lack of updated data, trained human resources, and planning, among others, results in unsuccessful charging strategies as well as low charging. Method: A documentary research was carried out with 1,851 Brazilian municipalities that reported charging for USWM services in 2021, which represents around 47% of the Brazilian population. Results and conclusion: The results indicate that the implementation of collection increased by 17% in Brazil, but only 8% of municipalities achieved financial self-sufficiency. The 151 self-sufficient municipalities implemented systems using the area of the property in the collection calculation methodology. In the end, good practices for the implementation of the charging were listed. Research implications: The results obtained enable municipal managers to learn about the challenges of implementing collection and about which models are practiced in Brazil, helping in the decision-making process. Originality/value: The evaluation of the collection models established in Brazilian cities and the variables used to calculate the collection contribute to the design of public policies that provide a fair and balanced charging for the provision of USWM services.