Evaluation of selective collection sustainability indicators in Brazilian cities

Abstract

In Brazil, door-to-door selective collection is the responsibility of municipal administrations and may be operated by municipalities, contracted companies and/or waste picker organizations. However, the regulatory framework created by the country’s National Solid Waste Policy prioritizes selective collection operated by waste picker organizations. This article analyzes two modalities of municipal selective collection, from the perspective of the various dimensions of sustainability: one operated in partnership with waste pickers and the other operated without this partnership. A total of 20 municipalities in the states of São Paulo (11) and Minas Gerais (9) were selected, which operate with waste pickers (SP=7 and MG=4) and without them (SP=8 and MG=1) and semi-structured questionnaires were applied face-to-face with their respective selective collection managers from January to April 2014. Although the data refer to a different context in comparison to the current situation, considering the profound changes that have occurred in the inherent public policies and the transformations arising from the pandemic that ravaged the country, the proposed comparative study remains up to date and relevant for the management of urban solid waste. The outcomes of the questionnaires fed a set of selective collection sustainability indicators (12), resulting from the research by Besen et al. (2016). Both modalities were shown to be very favorable in promoting education and dissemination, shared management and the establishment of partnerships. Unfavorable results were found, in both cases, for the indicators of self-financing, recovery rates of recyclables and rejected material, environmental work conditions, and worker health and safety. As determinant factors for the sustainability of selective collection: the need for investments in infrastructure, logistics and in the improvement of working conditions and worker health was highlighted, as well as an urgent need to promote financial sustainability, based on charging for the services provided.