Contributions on Selective Waste Collection and Recycling Cooperatives in Municipalities in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

The collection and proper disposal of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) is one of the biggest challenges faced by Brazilian public managers. Dry recyclable waste represents about 33.6% of the gravimetric composition of MSW, with a tendency to increase in the next few years, due to the increasing consumption of processed products, with short life cycles and excess packaging. The inadequate management of these residues results in a series of social, environmental and economic problems. In recent years, there has been a great advance in Brazilian laws, assigning responsibilities and regulating waste management in the country, optimizing the use of infrastructure and human and financial resources. Scarce resources and insufficient infrastructure demand actions based on a lot of planning. One of the main limiting factors for the planning and development of public policies for the sector is the lack of reliable data and information on the generation and management of waste, that allow the creation of future scenarios and the definition of adequate strategies for minimization, valorization of waste and final disposal of waste that no longer can be processed. Thus, this work sought to analyze the current situation of selective waste collection and recycling cooperatives in 211 municipalities in the State of São Paulo, evaluating the issues and opportunities for the applicability of Law n. 12,305/2010, Brazilian PNRS (in Portuguese) (National Policy of Solid Waste) in the management of this waste in small, medium and large cities. A bibliographic research was carried out on the panorama of solid waste management in Brazil and in the State of São Paulo, as well as a contextualization on selective waste collection and recycling cooperatives. Following that, data from 211 municipalities taking part in the survey Solid Waste Management—Municipalities of the State of São Paulo were analyzed, focusing on answers that correlated with the topics covered in this research. For this work, questions were used in order to obtain a basic overview of solid waste management in the municipalities, identifying the characteristics of selective waste collection and recycling cooperatives in the municipalities and to verify the similarity, benefits and difficulties of selective waste collection and waste cooperatives in the municipalities studied. After tabulating and analyzing the data, a matrix was prepared to compare the results obtained in relation to selective waste collection and recycling cooperatives and the guidelines of the PNRS (National Solid Waste Policy) in urban environmental management, which allowed the conclusion that all municipalities participating in the research have a good understanding of solid waste management practices, as well as seek to comply with the guidelines of the PNRS. However, the results of this matrix indicated that there are important points that need to be considered in the planning of actions for a better management of recyclable waste, such as the implementation of inter-municipal consortiums in the management of solid waste, investment in environmental education, stimulation to create recycling cooperatives and adoption of social inclusion regulations for informal waste collectors.