Putting solid household waste to sustainable use: a case study in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

The management of solid residues has, in recent decades, been a source of concern for public administrators the world over. Experiments in the sustainable use of such residues are highly relevant in social and environmental terms, stimulating widespread interest and debate, with considerable research going into sustainability projects. In many areas, however, adequate public funding for sustainable-use projects is hard to come by. One of the major reasons for this is that public authorities, particularly in times of financial constraints, are reluctant to invest in undertakings in which the economic returns are difficult to quantify. Official scrutiny of the expenditures of public authorities is also normally heavily influenced by cost-benefit analyses. The specific objective of this article is to show that putting solid domestic residue (household solid waste) to sustainable use is capable of generating economic returns, as well as environmental benefits for society as a whole. These economic returns can be set out in financial statements, which may, in turn, be used to justify expenditures by public authorities on sustainable-use projects and as a basis for further investment in such incentives. We drew on the findings of existing research into sustainable use, undertaken by the Municipal Urban Cleaning Company in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to establish a conceptual framework for setting out the economic results of the collection of household solid waste.

Translating Policies into Informal Settlements' Critical Services: Reframing, Anchoring and Muddling Through

“…In the absence of formal waste services, an extensive informal sector of waste pickers has become involved in collecting and recycling household waste (Gutberlet, , Katuiimeh et al ., , Oteng‐Ababio et al ., ). These informal waste pickers contribute significantly to carbon footprint reduction (da Silva Carvalho et al ., ; Mitlin, ; Wilson et al ., ), resource recovery, improvement of environmental conditions and health of low‐income residents and job creation among the poor. However, programmes supporting informal waste picker organizations at the micro level face many challenges.…”

Grassroots innovations in ‘extreme’ urban environments. The inclusive recycling movement

“…Finally, several issues have been identified that require further investigation. WPOs make a considerable and recognized contribution to the recovery of recyclables that otherwise would end up in landfills and to their reinsertion and valorization in the recycling industry (da Silva Carvalho et al, 2012; Gutberlet et al, 2017a; Gutberlet and Carenzo, 2020), by inserting their recycling practices into the existing recycling industry and waste management policies. However, their recycling activities can paradoxically help maintain and cement the ‘consume and discard’ society as their cumulative innovations can be co-opted.…”

“…Millions of waste pickers in cities around the world make a living by collecting, sorting, transforming, and diverting waste materials (Gutberlet and Carenzo, 2020). They are increasingly recognized by environmental policy and scholarship for their significant contributions in reducing the carbon footprint of cities (da Silva da Silva Carvalho et al, 2012), recovering resources (Navarrete-Hernandez and Navarrete-Hernandez, 2018), improving environmental conditions and the health of low-income residents (Dias, 2016), and creating jobs and income among the poor (Rebehy et al, 2017). Through their everyday work, waste pickers create innovation spaces for sustainability and social justice, for example, by developing new technological approaches (Carenzo, 2017), engaging in novel ways of organization and management (Zapata and Zapata Campos, 2015), and inducing innovative policies and legal frameworks (Carenzo and Schmukler, 2018).…”

Technical potential of electricity production from municipal solid waste disposed in the biggest cities in Brazil: Landfill gas, biogas and thermal treatment

“…Oliveira and Rosa (2003) showed that the use of MSW in Brazil could supply about 50,000 GWh of electricity per year, which corresponds to 8.8% of the country electricity supply in 2011. According to Carvalho et al (2012), the anaerobic digestion of MSW in Rio de Janeiro city can produce biogas to generate 0.127 GWh of energy per year. According to Carvalho et al (2012), the anaerobic digestion of MSW in Rio de Janeiro city can produce biogas to generate 0.127 GWh of energy per year.…”

“…Lino and Ismail (2011) estimated that the biogas from landfills in Brazil could produce 3.3 GW of power. According to Carvalho et al (2012), the anaerobic digestion of MSW in Rio de Janeiro city can produce biogas to generate 0.127 GWh of energy per year. Salomon and Lora (2009) estimated that the potential electricity generation from landfills in Brazil is about 0.214 GW.…”