Case Study of Integrated Municipal Solid

Waste in the Municipality of Paulista: the

Importance of Participation of Scavengers to
Guarantee Social and Environmental
Sustainability
BENEDITO MARTINS – FCA/UNESP

JAIR MANFRINATO – FEB/UNESP

FABIO ESGUICERA – LENCOIS PAULISTA MUNICIPALITY

BIBIN MATHEW CHERIAN – FCA/UNESP

SIVONEY FERREIRA DE SOUZA – UFABC

MATHEUS FERREIRA – FCA/UNESP

CONTACT

Name: Benedito Martins

Organization: FCA/Unesp – Botucatu

Postal Address: Rua José Barbosa de Barros, nº 1780, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil

Telephone: 55 14 81019660

INTRODUCTION

The management of municipal solid waste in an integrated manner is a challenge for local
governments because of difficulties in organizing the sharing of responsibilities and thus implement
a management plan that meets the rules laid down in laws, looking at all the environmental
variables and social , of our own country, however, the second Taseli (2006), the improvement
plans solid waste management can only occur if you follow the speed of economic growth, whereas,
as it grows the purchasing power of the population increases the generation of waste, which implies
the need for greater investment in the sector by the municipal administrations.

The waste generated in households and commerce has defined characterization of the generator,
transporter and disposal, which also facilitates procedures to better treat it.However, other residues
that do not present a clear sequence, making it difficult to organize an efficient and effective
plan. May be mentioned the construction waste, the remains of garden prunings and useless and
bulky generated daily by the population and discharged into the environment without the technical
and legal collection, transport, treatment and disposal, even with some effort of public
administration.

The difficulty in organizing a plan that addresses all solid waste is generated in determining the
time at which generation occurs, considering that there is a responsible involvement of the
generator with the public administration. The producer and marketer has not made possible as a
means of participating in the process of reverse logistics, or not as they should undertake in an
effort to drive the product into disuse back to its origin to a new life cycle of the materials that
compose it starts. The national policy on solid waste is recent and has not yet been put into practice,
realizing only isolated actions of one or other sector, yet leaving much to be desired because of
ignorance of the law by the vast majority of consumers and traders because they have greater
potential producers of knowledge and technical, but still do not participate in reverse logistics with
the commitment and responsibility required to enable the return of the product to its origin. In
addition to better understanding of the law, lack the citizen, read up generator, the most accurate
information and, more importantly, awareness of environmental issues surrounding waste,
especially with respect to harmful environmental impacts when they are not returned the production
cycle. Evidently, the lack of awareness of the citizen is still generating the inattention to the
collector, the weakest link in the chain. Many citizens simply do not notice the existence of this
social group and worse, many note, but ignore them.

In this scenario, and whatever the residue, participation often informal garbage collectors street
becomes important to ensuring the continued use of the materials along the production chain, since
these agents perform the task that would fit producers, consumers and government. Thus, this
activity performed as a means of obtaining their own income and family ensures enormous
environmental benefits that contribute to improving the quality of life of all people. Many materials
that would be degrading in nature and serve as a focus for possible carriers of diseases such as
dengue and leshimaniose are recovered by these social actors and the production cycle again. In this
sense, according to Teixeira (2006) is placed as waste disposal that production and consumption
that can still be reused, recycled, and waste is treated as that which has no economic use for any
technological process available and accessible. This is how materials with potential for reuse, but
without economic value to the collector, not back to the production cycle, being left in the wild or
disposed in landfills or dumps. Typically, the economic value that moves the action of the collector
to collect the material, is connected to the intermediary or middleman in the region where the
collector is located. If there is a region in the presence of a certain material-processing industry, this
hardly returns to the production cycle. Thus, the return of materials to the production cycle takes
place for economic reasons rather than environmental. In Lencois Paulista, a municipality located
within the State of Sao Paulo at 299 km from Sao Paulo - Capital, with a population of 62,894
inhabitants and a population density of 78.24 inhabitants / km², is the monthly payment of
approximately 200 tons of materials performed by recyclable garbage workers and people with
physical disabilities, which represents about 20% of total waste collected in homes and
commerce. The support of public policy can improve the performance of this group through training
programs, logistical support in collecting the materials, and especially in its administrative
organization.

The focus of this article will be the model for managing waste include recyclable materials with the
possibility of being collected by scavengers and street, this way back again to the production
chain. This is because the triad - recyclable material collectors and public administration - sets out
in Lencois Paulista, a management model that aims at the sustainability of this management
meeting social and environmental aspects. The economic issue, always important, is equated by the
presence of the public, which supports and encourages disadvantaged social groups such as street
scavengers and the disabled.
 Methodology

The preparation of this article, we used interviews with garbage workers linked to Cooprelp
(Cooperative Recycling Lencois Paulista) and the disabled associated with Adefilp (Association of
the Physically Handicapped of Lencois Paulista). With the approval of the administration of the
cooperative and the association could conduct research on documents to determine quantities of
materials separated by type, volume, financial figures relating to sales of materials and that each
receives collaborated or associated with the work. The municipality of Lencois Paulista, through the
Department of Agriculture and Environment released the documents necessary for analysis of the
details of the plan, as well as all information about its implementation, operation and achieving
results.

We adopted the methodology of case study, whereas, according to Tognetti (2006), the case study is
a thorough and complete analysis of one or a few objects, allowing its broad and detailed
knowledge. It is appropriate to explore real life situations, describing the situation of the context in
which it is made specific research and causal variables to explain certain phenomena in very
complex situations. The case study is a scientific research to gain knowledge (how) in order to
better understand the problem, which suggests a level of exploratory research. Also aims to gain
knowledge, to describe characteristics and establish relationships between variables, which suggests
a descriptive level. It is also a research level explanatory, since it seeks to explain the phenomenon.

Plan of integrated management of municipal solid waste

According to Seiffert (2005) management and management have a distinctive character well as the
management process is related to measures of a more tactical organization, while management
involves the process of a more strategic. The management process always imply the implementation
of policies, while management is not necessarily so, it is clear that management implies the
implementation of good management. Philippi et al. (2004) addressed the issue of integrated
management of municipal solid waste giving the different management techniques possibilities for
achieving the objectives of the management plan and therefore the integrated management of
municipal solid waste consists in a set of tools and techniques that the municipality must implement
in order to increase the efficiency of each of the management tools. In addition, the management
aims to make the most of potential solid waste with respect to its reuse and recycling. In the public
sphere by establishing an environmental policy, it is necessary that the government establish goals,
define action strategies, create institutions and structures that the legislation contains and directs its
applicability.

The Comprehensive Plan for Management of Municipal Solid Waste in the city of Lencois Paulista
is designed to organize the generation, collection and disposal of municipal solid waste, focusing
incisively the social issue involved due to the presence of social groups that were used recyclable
materials as a means of subsistence. Thus, together with the environmental issue, it was noted that
work in conjunction with the Adefilp Cooprelp and come to meet the objectives of the Municipal
Administration of redeeming social justice without prejudice, with improved quality of life for two
groups of people especially poor, obtaining the support of the population and ensuring sustainability
of the practice. According Bringhenti (2004), a careful evaluation of the factors involved in the
planning and implementation of selective collection of MSW contributes decisively to the adoption
of appropriate guidelines, especially regarding its operational efficiency and effective compliance of
the target population the program. In this sense, it is important to note that one of the pillars of the
plan was public awareness to the issue of conscientious consumption, ie the spread of the culture of
4Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover. For this, environmental education works were
implemented addressing the need to reduce waste generation and the importance of recycling to
recover materials for use in the recycling industry by returning the waste to the production cycle,
saving new extraction of natural resources, rethinking totally habits of consumption and disposal
that for many people come to be compulsive acts.

Importantly, the integrated plan for management of municipal solid waste should be the object of
attention of all municipalities as a way of ensuring environmental sustainability, social, health and
economic issue of the waste places. For The municipal government has the responsibility to manage
solid waste from its collection to final disposal, which must be environmentally safe. The waste
produced is collected and not arranged irregularly on the streets, rivers, streams and vacant lots, and
has effects such as siltation of rivers and streams, clogging storm drains leading to increased
flooding during the rainy season, besides the destruction of green areas, stench, the proliferation of
flies, cockroaches and rats, all with serious direct and indirect consequences for public health.

The plan involved the approach of technical criteria and with the participation of professionals from
different areas to make it viable. For the implementation of the plan were performed the following
procedures:
a) Gravimetric characterization of MSW collected by regular collection of the municipality and
also the waste resulting from the separation of garbage in the wake of the screening plant;
b) Legal certainty has been achieved through the adoption of law and cooperation agreement
which is made possible by the action of the executive and legislative power, with the allowance
given by a group of lawyers;
c) Performance of social workers and psychologists with the garbage collectors and street
disabled needy;
d) Support the UNESP Sao Paulo State University, for planning and organizing the plan and
training of teachers and educators;
e) In many community meetings were organized to debate the best way to implement this
management practice, occurring major engagement of the Citizens' Action against Hunger and
Poverty and for Life, the Brazilian Service to Support Micro and Small Enterprises
(SEBRAE) volunteer professionals, companies and local Boards of Education, Employment and
Income Generation in the city.
f) Partnership with private companies to develop equipment and restoration of plant screening;
has developed an intense environmental education with the distribution of twenty thousand primers
used to work with children in classrooms.

Purpose of the plan of municipal solid waste management

Philippi et al. (2004) addressed the issue of integrated management of municipal solid waste giving
the different management techniques possibilities for achieving the objectives of the management
plan and therefore the integrated management of municipal solid waste consists in a set of tools and
techniques that municipality must apply in order to increase the efficiency of each of the
management tools. In addition, the management aims to make the most of potential solid waste with
respect to its reuse and recycling. Thus, the PGIRSU the Lencois Paulista set the following goals
and objectives:

a) Restructuring of an existing plant screening and complementary to the realization of the

municipal solid waste composting aimed at a target, the reduction of the environmental problem of
improper disposal of MSW.
b) Establishment of a complementary policy of selective collection of MSW to add value to the
recyclables recovered from the plant, to reduce the volume of waste destined for landfill, by
increasing the separation in the quantity and quality of recyclable materials contained in
conventional collection.
c) Social inclusion of collectors and street disabled, allowing them to better working conditions
through collective and individual training and provision of public instruments, aiming to foster the
creation of a cooperative association or with participation of collectors and enjoyment of the
experience the ADEFILP.
d) Creation of an environmental education program to complement the revenue from the sale of
recyclable materials made from recycled material at the plant for better quality.
e) Extend the life of the landfill through the implementation of selective collection in order to
reduce the amount of waste picked up by conventional collection.
f) Generate income for the community of collectors and disabled poor, seeking to eliminate
prejudice and discrimination through the appreciation of the work done by disabled people and
women.
g) Establish mechanisms for public law as a way to legalize and regulate the actions of institutions,
organizations and communities involved.

Identification and characterization of municipal solid waste

The residues were characterized garbage generated in homes and commerce. In the characterization
of waste generated in the houses we used the division of neighborhoods into social classes. This
division has met the criteria of the Municipal Law 2.608/97 which divides the city into zones for
collection of fees and taxes, according to the film location and terrain. Thus, it was agreed that there
is an order of decreasing purchasing power of people from the class A (the wealthiest) to E (lowest
social class), taking place yet the segregation of the city's commercial area. The other residues,
namely, electronics, bulky and useless, tree pruning debris, tires, waste from sweeping of streets
and public places and weeding and pruning of the bush in public places were quantified by weight.

For the organization of an integrated management plan of municipal solid waste becomes necessary,
first, to know the composition of this waste. It is necessary to know the volume of the three
fractions comprising the solid urban waste at home and business, the structure, which can be
composted - compostable urban solid waste (RSUC), the recyclable materials, which can be reused
and therefore have value business - municipal solid waste recycled (RSUR) to occupy because of
the waste to the landfill area in ditches - waste of municipal solid waste (MSW). As the commercial
value of the material is essential to his return to the production cycle, the identification of each type
of material contained in RSUR is important for understanding the work of the collector and also for
the study of reverse logistics.

In this sense, it performs a characterization of the gravimetric MSW- Commercial/Housing (Figure

1), to identify the actual composition of this waste in the municipality of Lencois Paulista.

Table 1: gravimetric composition of household waste and commercial

CLASS CLASS CLASS CLASSES
CENTER AVERAGE
A B C D/E
Material % % % % % %
Glass 1,6 2,2 3,3 1,8 3,3 2,5
Paperboard 3,0 2,3 1,7 1,8 3,8 2,5
Clean paper 5,0 1,4 1,6 1,5 0,9 2,1
Newspaper/magazine 1,3 1,6 1,9 1,3 1,8 1,6
Tetrapak 0,7 1,0 1,3 1,8 1,3 1,3
Iron/steel 1,3 1,2 1,6 0,9 1,8 1,4
Aluminum 0,1 0,2 0,1 0,0 0,1 0,1
Plastics
(PET, PEAD.PVC, 6,6 5,3 5,1 4,6 4,1 5,2
PEBD, PS)
 Organics 51,7 51,2 51,0 54,6 52,7 52,3
Tailings 28,7 31,6 32,4 31,7 30,2 31,0
TOTAL 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,00 100,0

2% 3% 1% 1%
Glass
1%
5% 0% Paperboard

29% Clean paper

6%
Newspaper/magazine
Tetrapak
Iron/steel
Aluminum
Plástics
52% Organics
Tailings

Chart 1: Gravimetric Composition of household waste and commercial

The characterization of MSW is important because the diagnosis presents the work done by the
cooperative in the wake of separation plant screening. The separation of materials which are present
in MSW indicate two possibilities: a deficiency in the separation or lack of economic value of the
material, which discourages the separation by the cooperative. The largest portion of the organic
fraction of MSW is compostable, and you can still find a very wide range of materials, and many
would return to the production cycle, such as paper and paperboard (9.37%) and LDPE (9 , 37%),
however, are not due to contamination, probably with leftovers, such as oil and grease. This is due
to the non-realization of separation
eparation inside the homes of local residents, and to mix all the rubbish,
contribute to the contamination occurs. MSW were considered: Styrofoam, textile, wood, shoes,
erasers, diapers and absorbent.

Legal Aspects

The Municipal Law No. 3258/03 was innovative and brought the character of the formal partnership
of two private entities, and ADEFILP COOPRELP with a public company, the Municipality of
Lencois Paulista. This law provides for the granting of plant facilities
facilities for sorting and composting of
waste to ADEFILP.

The cooperation agreement signed by City-ADEFILP-COOPRELP

City defined a form of work that has
innovated the relationships between the public and private entities with such different goals. Thus,
COOPRELP benefits fits of granting the plant to ADEFILP because, through this law, establishing a
relationship of partnership and passes to lead the work at the plant, given the impossibility of
disabled people in realizing them.

The municipal law was approved unanimously by the city council. Society participation was
overwhelming, solidifying the practice, giving you extreme sustainability thus making sure that
enabled you to stay even with natural changes in municipal government.

The cooperation agreement between the Municipality,

Municipality, the ADEFILP COOPRELP and establishes
criteria to provide project development within the plan. Through an agreement was established
parameters for the selective collection, support and social inclusion of disabled and street
scavengers, the provision on loan from the building and plant equipment of waste sorting, setting up
a monitoring committee and management partnership working and criteria that meet the
requirements of environmental laws governing the subject. It was agreed between the parties the
transfer of 5% of the total collected by COOPRELP with the sale of materials for ADEFILP, so that
it can assist the needy disabled.

Selective collection

Selective collection was planned and implemented in order to decrease the amount of material
provisions of the landfill, serving as a source of income for scavengers and disabled and also to
introduce a cultural change in society, towards the adoption of the separation of garbage inside
homes. Especially, the selective collection backed by the government aimed to promote better
working conditions to the two social groups present in the city. According to Besen et al. (2010),
management and inadequate disposal of solid waste causing environmental and social impacts such
as soil degradation, impairment of water bodies and fountains, intensifying floods, contributing to
air pollution and proliferation of vectors of health importance in urban centers and scavenging in
the streets and unsanitary conditions in the areas of provision.

The City supports the Cooprelp Adefilp and act on the implementation of selective collection that
occurs throughout the city. The collection is performed by the city regions, each region receives the
collection once a week. The collection held by the model works Cooprelp door to door. The
cooperative, so kind collector cars, the houses address and receive the materials previously
separated by the residents. After spending by households, the cooperative are directed to a container
that is parked in the center of the collecting locality. At the end of the day of collection, the
container is transported to the sorting unit, where the separation is carried out more detailed
material. The Adefilp not perform collection system door to door, for collecting the materials from
donations from residents, merchants and industrialists.

Plant Screening of Recyclable Materials

In addition to performing the selective collection, the municipality of Lencois Paulista has a sorting
unit where the cooperative Cooprelp perform the separation of recyclable materials contained in the
garbage collected in the residences and commerce of the city. This unit has the potential to receive
60 tons a day of separation. Basically consists of a receiver with a conveyor gap separation which
allows the cooperative work 22. The cooperative arranged along the conveyor carrying out the
separation of certain materials, which are subsequently pressed bound and stored for future
sales. Plastics receive a more detailed later separation, whereupon the split occurs the same with
different characteristics, which allows to obtain higher selling price.

The way to operate the plant screening was significantly changed with the entry of the cooperative
COOPRELP therefore the 44 officials who labored there have been relocated to provide services in
other locations.

The materials are still not separated by the conveyor and are placed in containers for transport to the
landfill of the city, where is the final disposition.

Results

Environmental

a) The comparative chart of the performance of municipal employees and the performance of the
cooperative COOPRELP (Figure 2) leaves no doubt that the process has changed for the better,
resulting in apparent lengthening of the life of the landfill into ditches in the city due to the better
separation of materials that are no longer available at the landfill. The average separation of the
materials was 25.00 tons per month increased to 188.5 tons. This greater amount in the separation
of recyclable provided elongation of life of the landfill.

Figure 1 - Comparative monthly production Prefecture Cooperative x / Adefilp. Source:

COOPRELP (2011)

c) Selective collection now includes 100% of the city being present in all districts and the District of
Alfredo Guedes, and contributes 65 tons of recyclables per month.
d) Environmental education reached the entire population with the actual work done in all public
and private schools of the city.
e) The transfer procedures to other parts of the State of Sao Paulo and the country has been an
important means of spreading the practice of recycling, environmental education and the
formalization of a group, which occurs in all Brazilian cities formed by scavengers street.
f) The cooperative also produces grinding an average of three tons per day of residual tree
pruning. The crushed material is sold for local industries for energy production.

Economic

a) The energy expenditure for the separation of materials contained in waste decreased significantly,
from $ 6.5 to $ 19.22 for each ton of recyclable material separately.

Social

a) There was the strengthening of two disadvantaged groups and to some extent, broken or not very
well accepted by society. The city started to better monitor performance and work of these two
groups, and better than that, became a partner of, in that it performs the separation of recyclable
materials at home and delivers them to collectors.
b) The acceptance of members of ADEFILP COOPRELP and a positive result was significant
because it was learned in a somewhat interesting that so much and tried to be discriminated against
members of both groups also began to perform acts of discrimination, judgments and prejudices
against each other.
c) The COOPRELP is formed exclusively by women who act as heads of families and have children
without, however, receive support from their parents. Thus, this work enables these women raise
their children and still meet the organization of home and family.
d) The cooperative became formal workers in the labor market. All are individual contributors of
the National Institute of Social Security (INSS). The COOPRELP, like all formal company also
collects taxes.
e) The cooperative members get a monthly income of around $ 417.00. The ADEFILP receives
about $ 1,500.00 per month with the transfer made by COOPRELP, referring to 5% of the total
raised from the sale of recyclable materials.

CONCLUSIONS

According to Ferreira (2000), the guarantee of continued promotions in the solid waste sector will
only occur with the existence of a management policy and commitment to social institutions firmly
fastened to keep it. The participation of civil society is indispensable for this. Accordingly, it is
understood that the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan Solid Waste Management
regarding the collection, treatment and disposal of urban waste in the municipality of Paulista was
successful because it effectively solved an uncomfortable situation, the harm to the
environment and transgression of the laws, while that provided the social groups involved the
possibility of a formal activity, generating income, and more salubrious location and condition. It
was evident the importance of support from higher authorities, especially those related to the public
as a way to facilitate the activities of social actors deprived of education and professional
qualification and clearly excluded from the processes established social relations of urban
society. The management plan also allowed the following conclusions about the issue at hand:
The creator of the project coordinator or should know to pay attention to the peculiarities of their
location in order to use external ideas transforming them to meet the specific needs of where you
want to replicate the project or idea.

In the case of the municipality of Lencois Paulista, the cooperative meeting in cooperative showed
more competence to carry out the work of separation of recyclable materials in the wake of garbage
sorting plant when compared with work done by municipal employees. Officials with the
guaranteed wage, regardless of production that can, may not submit a motivation to improve
performance. The City has not been competitive in marketing materials depending on the length and
lack of flexibility of the bidding process for sale, which caused the deterioration of materials
separated, and thus the financial losses were inevitable.

Form the idea of the cooperative is a lengthy process between the collectors, who developed a form
of survival that distrusts and disbelieves the support of the Government, and also from their
peers. Social work support, with social workers and psychologists, with talks on human respect,
personal hygiene, domestic economy, support family crises and diseases, and the need to mediate
issues of relationships, should be intense, sustained and serious as it is vital to the success of the
cooperative.

The Government should monitor the cooperative, or create mechanisms for their positive
performance. Finding qualified individuals to command it is fundamental, because the collectors
require technical knowledge, administrative, financial and accounting. It is also essential that
society is informed very clearly who are the beneficiaries of the project and the benefits that the
project provides for the city. If the community does not believe and trust, the project collapses.

All the technical problems of operation are possible to be solved, the question always is to simply
choose the cheapest or best cost / benefit. The social side that involves the issue is more complex,
therefore, is what should have greater support. All work involving human material so diverse and so
lacking in education, citizenship, support and social recognition, the more requires a dose of
warmth from those who coordinates the actions.
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