Comparison between the municipal solid waste management of two municipalities from mountain region

Abstract

This paper aims to present a review of household waste management in two small municipalities located at Mountain Region (RS – Brazil). As method, it was used data from waste amounts destined for regular and selective collection, physical characterization and gravimetric composition of the waste generated in three neighbourhoods of different social classes. It was observed that the largest municipality showed better efficiency and higher coverage of selective collection. The per capita index of waste generation was similar among municipalities, despite of differences in population size and in social and economic characteristics. The neighbourhoods with high and middle classes presented better segregation in both collections and municipalities. The presence of biodegradable materials in selective collection (average 14%) and recyclable materials in regular collection (average 21%) was observed. The obtained results indicated the necessity to continuously investing on expansion of selective collection and environmental education, in order to improve waste segregation, which contributes with the efficiency level of triage plants, as well as to increase the potential recovery of waste recyclable and the useful life of landfills.