Luciana Harue Yamane

Although Brazilian Federal Decree no. 10.240/2020, in effect since February 2020, established mandatory reverse logistics service (RLS) for electronic waste (e-waste) in municipalities with a population exceeding 80,000 inhabitants in Brazil to reach 60% of the Brazilian population by 2025, the population threshold set fails to encompass 93% of all municipalities in Brazil. This study identified the need to understand the root causes of these challenges in these areas and proposed guidelines and strategies to facilitate the implementation of RLS for e-waste. Various approaches, such as questionnaires, focus groups, and document analyses, were employed to collect data and validate the identified challenges. Results underscored the significance of the identified challenges, with improper disposal of e-waste being a primary issue. The proposed guidelines and strategies can assist decision-makers in promoting the implementation of RLS for e-waste in small municipalities in Brazil.

Resumo Estratégias de recuperação energética e economia circular foram sugeridas pela Organização das Nações Unidas em cumprimento aos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável. O aproveitamento energético dos resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) em sistemas térmicos passou a figurar como alternativa à disposição final dos rejeitos amplamente aplicada em países desenvolvidos. Contudo, ainda se encontra em estágio embrionário nos países em desenvolvimento ou subdesenvolvidos. Diante disso, este estudo analisa o potencial de geração de energia em regiões brasileiras, bem como aplica e compara as tecnologias gaseificação e incineração. Os resultados indicam que a incineração é mais eficiente em comparação a gaseificação especialmente em regiões com maior densidade urbana. Na região Sudeste, por exemplo, o potencial de geração de energia a partir da incineração corresponde a 0,62 MWh.t-1, enquanto a gaseificação corresponde a 0,24 MWh.t-1. Constatou-se também que a implantação de novas alternativas de tratamento contribuirá com a ampliação da matriz elétrica brasileira em 5%, bem como a diversificação das opções de gestão de RSU. Contudo, ainda são necessárias estratégias para fomentar a implementação dessas tecnologias no país. Além disso, este trabalho pretende contribuir com a valorização energética dos rejeitos que são dispostos em aterro sanitários ou descartados inadequadamente.

Despite electricity generated from landfill gas (LFG) being widely studied, information about the effect over time of dynamic changes in the waste composition caused by diversions of municipal solid waste (MSW) remains scarce. Thus, this paper evaluates the impact of policy targets for diversion of MSW on energy production from LFG recovery. A system dynamics (SD) model is proposed based on the LandGem model to quantify the LFG generation. The results show that dry recyclable materials diversion is a favourable measure that increases LFG generation, while organic waste diversion measures have the opposite effect, which directly affects energy generation. Diverting 5–20% of organic waste would still allow 10% higher electricity generation coming from LFG recovery than most landfills in Brazil. The cost–benefit analysis indicated the feasibility of LFG-to-energy projects under the different diversion targets and their contribution to mitigating equivalent carbon dioxide emissions. In addition to an academic contribution to waste management studies by using SD, this paper aids decision making for landfill energy generation projects concerning the impact of policies aiming to divert dry recyclable and organic waste from landfilling to recycling.

Objective: Evaluate the willingness to pay (WTP) for Domestic Solid Waste management services in residential buildings in Vitória-ES, as well as to estimate their financial impact within the Solid Waste Management (SWM). Theoretical Framework: The demand for the universalization of SWM services compromises the municipal budget, and it is essential to evaluate new charging strategies to guarantee economic and financial sustainability. Method: Through the application of a questionnaire, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used, as well as a case study in the city of Vitória/ES. Results and Discussion: 58% of residents were willing to pay for SWM services, with an average monthly value of US$5.95 per household unit and stated that promoting information about the service would promote an 48% increase in this value. If classified as large generators, the transfer of responsibility for waste management in condominiums with more than 46 apartments, could relieve almost 19% of the entire cost of SWM services in the city of Vitória. Research Implications: It is evident the need to improve SWM charging policies for large generators, such as residential buildings, which can consider political and regulatory aspects, the WTP of the target audience, as well as information dissemination and social mobilization. Originality/Value: The research results contribute to expanding the modalities of charging policies for SWM services, with the classification of residential condominiums as large generators.

The recycling promoted by the processing of construction and demolition waste (CDW) and its production of recycled aggregate (RA), despite being a technologically known process and generating environmental benefits, still faces technical and economic barriers, which need to be elucidated and overcome, being a research gap. The research aim was to analyze the feasibility for the implementation of CDW processing plants. In the first stage, focused on technical barriers, from a wide bibliographic and documentary review, the parameters porosity, water absorption, density and resistance were identified as those that are most altered with the insertion of the RA in concrete production, determining that the previous classification and granulometric homogeneity of the RA influences the technical feasibility of its applications. Therefore, in the second stage, a case study was carried out to analyze the effects and magnitudes of costs intrinsic to the processing and viability of a plant, using data from Espírito Santo/Brazil. The main contribution was to provide instruments that support decision-making for the implementation of CDW processing plants, in order to identify that the rates applied to financing do not present significance to the total costs of the project when compared with other costs, such as transportation, promoting recycling.

Purpose: The aim of the research is to improve the productivity of a Waste Picker Organization using lean tools. Introduction: Waste Pickers Organizations (WPO) play a key role in the circular economy and in the Brazilian recycling industry, but several organizational structure inefficiencies hamper productivity. One way to understand how these inefficiencies occur and how to eliminate them is through the application of Lean thinking. Methodology: Lean tools (SIPOC, process modelling, Value Stream Mapping, spaghetti diagram, activity value analysis, and spatial rearrangement) were explored for the analysis of operational activities, focusing on elimination of unnecessary activities and layout changes, and to measure the improvements. Results and Conclusion: After the implementation of the suggested improvements in the WPO waste selection macro process, several productivity enhancements were noted, including a reduction of initial stock (59%), a decreased lead time (41%), lower processing times (57%), and improved cargo handling (17%). These findings clearly indicate how the application of lean tools can improve overall productivity in Waste Picker Organizations being practical solutions that only require human resource. Research implications: Lean tools to enhance the productivity of WPO were applied as practical and inexpensive solutions to identify and describe the main flows and layout types at Waste Picker Organizations (WPO). Originality/value: Practical solutions are the most request issues regarding improvement actions implementations in waste management, but especially when the focus is the waste picker organizations due to the government's financial dependence as the main economic source and difficulties in self-management.

Waste picker organizations (WPO) are a fundamental link in the integrated management of urban solid waste; however, despite being formally recognized, waste pickers still face unhealthy work conditions. Studies on occupational risks related to waste picker activities have been carried out in a qualitative way, but the quantification of occupational risks is an important research gap to fill. Additionally, an unprecedented comparison between waste picker risk perception and occupational safety technician risk assessment is presented. The risk perception of the waste picker was carried out through a cross-sectional interview study that surveyed 35 WPO by non-probabilistic sampling, and the results showed that waste pickers underestimated the occupational risks (i.e. noise, physical effort, improper physical arrangement, and inadequate use of personal protective equipment (PPE)), it was also possible to identify the necessary strategies to improve occupational safety. Occupational safety technician evaluations were carried out through quantitative analysis on site in 64 WPO. The results indicated the predominance of maximum risk intensity (Level 3 – from a scale of 0 to 3) for biological risk, physical effort, excessive pace, improper physical arrangement, and inadequate use of PPE in all operational activities. The main interventions should focus on implementing Work Accident Reporting, rearranging WPO layout, routinely providing information about importance of PPE use, and continuously developing WPO standards with periodic evaluations of occupational risks using a fractional scale.