IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v26y2006i1d10.1007_s10669-006-5355-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Successful Pilot Project of Decentralized Household Waste Management in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Manfred Fehr

    (Federal University)

Abstract

Summary Present municipal waste management paradigms in Brazil do not allow for flexible approaches to solving an extremely dynamic problem. This paper discusses the basic flaws in present thinking models of residents and municipal administrators. Fundamental arguments presented on municipal solid waste relate to nomenclature, destinations, definitions, logistics, social dynamics, social assistance programs, education and employment philosophies. In each case, the consequences of the stalemate are explained in terms of the unsustainable situation of constantly growing landfills. In sequence, a proactive thinking model is presented and explained that has the potential of drastically reducing landfill size. It is called Municipal Transit Material Processing. The model has been tested successfully in small communities and is now available for scale-up. The landfill diversion achieved stands at 62% of household waste in comparison with 15% theoretically possible in Brazil with selective collection models. Although of necessity the arguments apply directly to Brazil, the basic ideas behind the reasoning may be extrapolated to other Southern countries. The following simple example will illustrate to the reader the type of paradigm inversion the paper proposes to convey. The classical political slogan in Brazil is “get children out of garbage dumps”. The inversion proposed and explained is “do away with garbage dumps”.

Suggested Citation

  • Manfred Fehr, 2006. "A Successful Pilot Project of Decentralized Household Waste Management in Brazil," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 21-29, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:26:y:2006:i:1:d:10.1007_s10669-006-5355-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10669-006-5355-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-006-5355-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10669-006-5355-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mathis Wackernagel & J. Yount, 2000. "Footprints for Sustainability: The Next Steps," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 23-44, March.
    2. Geoffrey Glasby, 2002. "Sustainable Development: The Need for a New Paradigm," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 333-345, December.
    3. Gerbens-Leenes, P. W. & Nonhebel, S., 2002. "Consumption patterns and their effects on land required for food," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 185-199, August.
    4. Herendeen, Robert A. & Wildermuth, Todd, 2002. "Resource-based sustainability indicators: Chase County, Kansas, as example," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 243-257, August.
    5. Button, Kenneth, 2002. "City management and urban environmental indicators," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 217-233, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. M. Fehr & F. C. Santos, 2013. "Source separation-driven reverse logistics in MSW management," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 286-294, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jollands, Nigel & Harmsworth, Garth, 2007. "Participation of indigenous groups in sustainable development monitoring: Rationale and examples from New Zealand," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 716-726, May.
    2. Dhoubhadel, Sunil P. & Taheripour, Farzad & Stockton, Mathew C., 2016. "Livestock Demand, Global Land Use, and Induced Greenhouse Gas Emissions," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235271, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Kastner, Thomas & Kastner, Michael & Nonhebel, Sanderine, 2011. "Tracing distant environmental impacts of agricultural products from a consumer perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1032-1040, April.
    4. Colin Hunter, 2002. "Sustainable Tourism and the Touristic Ecological Footprint," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 7-20, March.
    5. Oscar Reicher & Verónica Delgado & José-Luis Arumi, 2021. "Use of Indicators in Strategic Environmental Assessments of Urban-Planning Instruments: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    6. Emiko Fukase & Will Martin, 2016. "Who Will Feed China in the 21st Century? Income Growth and Food Demand and Supply in China," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 3-23, February.
    7. Lenzen, Manfred & Dey, Christopher & Foran, Barney, 2004. "Energy requirements of Sydney households," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 375-399, July.
    8. Escudero, Marcos & Jiménez, Ángel & González, Celina & López, Ignacio, 2013. "Quantitative analysis of potential power production and environmental benefits of Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycles in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 63-75.
    9. Kastner, Thomas, 2009. "Trajectories in human domination of ecosystems: Human appropriation of net primary production in the Philippines during the 20th century," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 260-269, December.
    10. Fan, Fan & Henriksen, Christian Bugge & Porter, John, 2016. "Valuation of ecosystem services in organic cereal crop production systems with different management practices in relation to organic matter input," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(PA), pages 117-127.
    11. Yikun Su & Hong Xue & Huakang Liang, 2019. "An Evaluation Model for Urban Comprehensive Carrying Capacity: An Empirical Case from Harbin City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-25, January.
    12. Yigang Wei & Cui Huang & Patrick T. I. Lam & Yong Sha & Yong Feng, 2015. "Using Urban-Carrying Capacity as a Benchmark for Sustainable Urban Development: An Empirical Study of Beijing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-25, March.
    13. von Wirth, Timo & Wissen Hayek, Ulrike & Kunze, Antje & Neuenschwander, Noemi & Stauffacher, Michael & Scholz, Roland W., 2014. "Identifying urban transformation dynamics: Functional use of scenario techniques to integrate knowledge from science and practice," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 115-130.
    14. Gerbens-Leenes, P. W. & Moll, H. C. & Schoot Uiterkamp, A. J. M., 2003. "Design and development of a measuring method for environmental sustainability in food production systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 231-248, September.
    15. Elise Wach, 2021. "Market Dependency as Prohibitive of Agroecology and Food Sovereignty—A Case Study of the Agrarian Transition in the Scottish Highlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    16. Ye-Ning Wang & Qiang Zhou & Hao-Wei Wang, 2020. "Assessing Ecological Carrying Capacity in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Based on a Three-Dimensional Ecological Footprint Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    17. Guangtong Gu & Wenjie Zhu, 2019. "Interaction Effects between Technology-Driven Urbanization and Eco-Environment: Evidence from China’s East Zhejiang Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, February.
    18. Rae, Allan N., 2010. "A Rising Tide of Anti-Animal Consumerism? Issues and Opportunities," 2010 Conference, August 26-27, 2010, Nelson, New Zealand 96940, New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    19. Rasadhika Sharma & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Ulrike Grote, 2018. "Changing Consumption Patterns—Drivers and the Environmental Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, November.
    20. Keyzer, M.A. & Merbis, M.D. & Pavel, I.F.P.W. & van Wesenbeeck, C.F.A., 2005. "Diet shifts towards meat and the effects on cereal use: can we feed the animals in 2030?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 187-202, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:26:y:2006:i:1:d:10.1007_s10669-006-5355-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.