Does gender affect environmentally virtuous behaviour? Evidence from selective waste collection.

This research analyses the issue, unexplored to date, of the causal relationship between women politicians and selective waste collection. Differing attitudes towards environmental issues between men and women may affect waste management at the municipal level, so an increase in women's political representation can be expected to enhance the effectiveness of selective waste collection. The analysis tests for this in Italy, exploiting a gender quota measure (Law 215/2012) as an exogenous shock to the percentage of female municipal councilors. Difference-in-differences instrumental variable analysis finds that an increase of one standard deviation in the percentage of female councilors increases the percentage of selective waste collection by 2.18 percentage points and the total tonnage of selective waste by 447.86. At the same time it reduces the amount of non-selective waste collection by 491.22 tonnes. The study comprises a number of sensitivity analyses for different model specifications, different definitions of dependent variables, different size of municipalities and different geographical areas.

Environmental Problems: An Analysis of Students' Perceptions Towards Selective Waste Collection.

The reduction, reuse, collection and recovery of recyclable materials are sustainable behaviors and people's awareness of them plays an important role in implementing strategies and policies in this field. The quantitative analysis performed on a group of 816 students of Politehnica University of Timisoara, aimed at finding answers to important environmental concerns and observing the students' behaviors of reuse and selective collection of the waste resulted from plastic containers, paper, aluminum, batteries, iron packaging waste, electronic equipment, used cooking oil and printer toner. The research has shown that 'increased amounts of waste' (63.5%) is among the first three concerns Romania has to deal with, besides 'air pollution' (67.9%) and 'deforestation' (63.7%). Moreover, the study highlights the existence of the behavior toward the selective waste collection among students (plastic - 60.3%, paper - 57.8%, and glass - 55.3%). although there are some areas (e.g., selectively collecting used cooking oil or printer toner, their level of knowledge regarding the color code for the recycling bins, etc.) that students still need to be familiarized with through different campaigns, trainings, courses, etc. The results can be used in the development of institutional strategies or of strategic documents targeting environmental protection and sustainable development.

Waste pickers organizations and municipal selective waste collection: Sustainability indicators.

Brazilian municipalities face several difficulties while carrying out the municipal selective waste collection (MSWC); at the same time, waste pickers organizations (WPOs) need to overcome many challenges to compete in the waste management market. In order to reach the requirements of the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy (NSWP), it is necessary to know which factors interfere in the performance of MSWC programs and WPOs to understand the relationships between these factors. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the sustainability of MSWC programs and WPOs in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, and propose a new methodological strategy. For data collection, questionnaires were given to municipal civil workers from 24 municipalities and managers of 23 WPOs to calculate sustainability indicators and their correlations. Means and frequencies were calculated to analyze indicators in relation to sustainability; peer-to-peer correlation analyses were performed to the construct graphs that obtained correlation coefficients, which were applied to study the normality distribution. For each indicator, we provided necessary investments to practical solutions. As a result, a methodological proposal was presented to improve their actions, which was hierarchized by degrees of temporal urgency for their implementation. The design of the actions has great potential to improve and develop sustainability practices in WPOs and MSWC programs. Due to the low quality of primary data collected, we recommend the creation of the data control systems to continuously monitor.

Incidência de resíduos de serviços de saúde em cooperativas de triagem de materiais recicláveis / Incidence of healthcare waste in recycling materials cooperatives

RESUMO Os resíduos de serviços de saúde (RSS) são todos aqueles resíduos gerados nos serviços que prestam atendimento à saúde humana ou animal. Os RSS são classificados em cinco grupos (Grupo A, Grupo B, Grupo C, Grupo D e Grupo E), dos quais uma parcela apresenta periculosidade. A legislação brasileira recomenda que os resíduos pertencentes ao Grupo D sejam reciclados. Contudo, com base na má segregação existente, o encaminhamento desses materiais representa riscos aos profissionais que manejam os resíduos intra e extraestabelecimentos de saúde, incluindo os trabalhadores que atuam junto às cooperativas de triagem de materiais recicláveis. Nesse contexto, este trabalho teve como objetivo verificar a presença de RSS destinados inadequadamente às cooperativas de triagem de materiais recicláveis de um município da zona Sul do Rio Grande do Sul. Para tanto, foi realizada uma caracterização quali-quantitativa dos RSS incidentes nas cinco cooperativas do município durante o período de quatro semanas. A partir dos resultados obtidos, verificou-se a presença de RSS no programa de coleta seletiva (PCS) municipal e, também, que a quantidade incidente varia conforme a cooperativa estudada e a semana avaliada. Ao final das caracterizações, foram quantificados 36,23 kg de RSS entre todas as cooperativas. Tais resultados indicam falhas na segregação e na destinação de RSS, seja pela população e/ou pelos estabelecimentos de saúde, além de evidenciarem a fragilidade existente no PCS do município. À vista disso, torna-se necessária a implementação de políticas públicas, tanto educativas quanto de fiscalização, que sejam capazes de assegurar maior segurança no âmbito de trabalho das cooperativas de triagem de materiais recicláveis.

ABSTRACT Healthcare waste (HCW) is all the waste generated by human or animal health care activities. HCW is classified into five groups, of which a portion presents hazardousness. Brazilian legislation recommends that waste belonging to Group D be recycled. However, based on the poor existing waste segregation, the forwarding of these materials presents risks to the professionals who handle them inside and out of health care facilities, including the workers within recyclable material waste picker cooperatives. In such a context, this study aimed to investigate the presence of HCW inappropriately sent to waste pickers cooperatives of a municipality in the south of Rio Grande do Sul. To this end, a qualitative and quantitative characterization of HCW incidence in the five cooperatives of the municipality was performed during the period of four weeks. From the results obtained, it was possible to verify the presence of HCW in the municipal selective waste collection program and that HCW quantities vary according to the waste pickers cooperative studied and the week being evaluated. At the end of the characterizations, 36.23 kg of HCW were quantified amongst all the cooperatives. Such results indicate flaws in HCW segregation and destination, either by the population and/or by health care facilities, in addition to showing the fragility in the municipality's selective waste collection program. In view of this, it is necessary to implement public policies, both educational and supervisory, that can ensure greater safety in the work environment of recyclable material waste picker cooperatives.

Influence of the expansion of the selective collection in the sorting infrastructure of waste pickers' organizations: A case study of 16 Brazilian cities.

Although recycling is a viable alternative to minimizing the impacts of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), identification of the local recycling market is a requirement for its empowerment. This paper aims to assess the recyclable solid waste market in 16 cities of Brazil. Through the application of interviews, field research and secondary data collection this research observed that while relying on poor infrastructure and on Government subsidies, the 12 pickers organizations surveyed can deliver 18.53% of recyclable waste to recycling with an average sorting productivity of 109 kg/picker/day and average earnings of US$ 293.40/picker/month. Based on the validated methods, 17% of these organizations were classified as having average efficiency, whereas 82% of them operated with very low efficiency. The investment required for the adequacy and expansion of the sorting capacity of waste pickers' organizations has been estimated at US$ 2.5 M, which could be counterbalanced by the savings with the current US$ 2 M/year spent with the disposal of recyclable waste into landfills. We also estimate new 189 job openings in the pickers' organizations to meet the requirements of the proposed scenario, contrasting with the current 93 cooperative members currently formalized. Regarding the consumer market, only few recycling companies were identified in the region, which may justify the low price paid for waste. The market for recyclables is mostly composed of micro and small companies that generally carry out the collection, transportation, sorting, and commercialization.

Overview of the selective waste collection with pickers in Maputo municipality, Mozambique: challenges and perspectives

In Maputo, the selective waste collection is undertaken in a very limited way and is largely a result of nongovernmental projects or individual initiatives. The objective of the study was to analyze household selective waste collection in Maputo emphasizing those in partnership with the municipality, in order to evaluate their potentialities. The research methods were bibliographical and documental research and qualitative interviews. The interviews were with representatives from: Municipal Directorate of Cleansing and Cemeteries; coordinators of four pickers' organizations (Recicla, Fertiliza, Amor and Pagalata). In addition, there were technical visits to units for sorting recyclables and collecting/selling stations. The research showed that the initiatives are positive, in terms of social and economic capital, although altogether the projects deviate less than 1 per cent of the urban solid waste produced daily in the municipality. One of the major problems for promoting selective waste collection in Mozambique is lack of local industries that transform recyclable materials in recycled products. It is therefore important to provide a legal framework for municipal selective waste collection service with pickers' and citizens' participation.

Em Maputo, a coleta seletiva ocorre de forma restrita, majoritariamente como resultado de iniciativas não governamentais ou individuais. Este estudo apresenta um panorama desses projetos e enfatiza iniciativas em parceria com o município. O objetivo foi analisar experiências de coleta seletiva de resíduos sólidos domiciliares em parcerias com organizações de catadores em Maputo, Moçambique, a fim de avaliar suas perspectivas. Foram realizadas pesquisas bibliográficas e documentais e entrevistas qualitativas semiestruturadas com: representante da Direção Municipal de Saúde e Salubridade do Município de Maputo; coordenadores administrativos de quatro organizações de catadores (Recicla, Fertiliza, Amor e Pagalata). Além disso, foram feitas visitas técnicas aos galpões/usinas de triagem e estações de coleta dessas organizações. As iniciativas, embora, em conjunto, desviem menos de 1 por cento dos resíduos sólidos urbanos produzidos no município, foram avaliadas positivamente em aspectos de formação de capital social e econômico. A pesquisa também demonstrou que um problema para a coleta seletiva e a reciclagem em Moçambique é a carência de um mercado local e um parque reciclador que utilize e transforme materiais recicláveis em produtos reciclados. Nesse sentido, faz-se necessário definir um marco legal de serviço municipal de coleta seletiva com a participação dos catadores e munícipes.

Modelo de implantação de plano de gerenciamento de resíduos no laboratório clínico / Deployment model plan for managing waste in the clinical laboratory

INTRODUÇÃO: Um dos principais desafios da sociedade tem sido implantar e aperfeiçoar sistemas que realizem a destinação adequada dos resíduos gerados pelas diversas atividades humanas em função da necessidade da preservação ambiental. No Brasil, há obrigatoriedade dos responsáveis de elaborar e implantar seu Plano de Gerenciamento de Resíduos de Serviços de Saúde (PGRSS). OBJETIVO: Este artigo descreve a implantação do PGRSS na Divisão de Laboratório Central do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (DLC/HC-FMUSP), abrangendo a elaboração de planejamento relacionado com os recursos materiais, humanos e da área física. MÉTODO: O processo iniciou com a incorporação do conceito de sustentabilidade ao Sistema Integrado de Gestão (SIG), despertando o interesse em relação a não geração, minimização e reaproveitamento dos RSS, preservação dos recursos naturais e redução do impacto ambiental. CONCLUSÃO: O PGRSS facilitou a comunicação, a disseminação da informação, a conscientização, a formação da competência e o treinamento de todos os envolvidos. Várias atividades foram desenvolvidas simultaneamente, resultando em mudanças comportamentais.

INTRODUCTION: As far as environmental awareness is concerned, one of the main challenges in society has been to implement and optimize systems that perform the appropriate disposal of waste generated by several human activities. In Brazil, both the development and implementation of a Health Services Waste Management Program - HSWMP (Plano de Gerenciamento de Resíduos de Serviços de Saúde [PGRSS]) are legally required. OBJECTIVE: This article describes the implementation of HSWMP in the Central Laboratory Division of University of São Paulo Medical School Hospital - CLD/USP-MSH (Divisão de Laboratório Central do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo [DLC/HC-FMUSP]) comprising material, human and physical area resources. METHOD: The process started with the incorporation of the concept of sustainability into the Integrated Management System - IMS (Sistema Integrado de Gestão [SIG]), which focuses on the non-generation, minimization and recycling of health services waste in order to preserve natural resources and reduce environmental impact. CONCLUSION: The HSWMP facilitated communication, information dissemination, awareness, competence and training of all parties involved. Several activities were conducted simultaneously, which resulted in behavioral changes.

Gestão de resíduos sólidos em São Paulo: desafios da sustentabilidade / Solid waste management in Sao Paulo: the challenges of sustainability

O presente trabalho aborda o cenário brasilero, da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo e da cidade de São Paulo em relação à gestão integrada e sustentável de resíduos sólidos urbanos, apontando os principais avanços, retrocessos e desafios. Destaca-se o importante papel da universalização da coleta seletiva com inclusão de catadores de materiais recicláveis na cidade de São Paulo como estratégia para promover sustentabilidade socioambiental urbana.

This paper presents the scenario related to urban solid waste at the national level, metropolitan São Paulo and São Paulo pointing the main advances, backlashes and challenges. The emphasis is on the important role of the universalization of selective waste collection with the inclusion of waste pickers of recyclable materials within the city of São Paulo as a strategy to promote socioenvironmental urban sustainability.

Diagnóstico da disposição final dos resíduos sólidos urbanos na região da Associação dos Municípios do Alto Irani (AMAI), Santa Catarina / Diagnosis of the final disposal of urban solid wastes in the region of the Association of the Cities at Alto Irani (AMAI), Santa Catarina State

O objetivo desse estudo foi diagnosticar o destino dos resíduos sólidos urbanos na região da AMAI (SC), composta por catorze municípios. Foram aplicados questionários às prefeituras e realizadas visitas nos municípios para mapear tanto lixões ativos e desativados como aterros controlados e sanitários. Os parâmetros utilizados foram: existência de cercas; tipo de cobertura; retirada dos resíduos antes da cobertura; proximidades com águas superficiais; presença de catadores ou animais; monitoramento e coleta de chorume e gás; distância de moradias e existência de coleta seletiva. A partir da pesquisa, foram localizados vinte e sete lixões desativados, sendo que dezoito deles receberam algum tipo de remediação; porém, em nenhum deles ocorreu de forma padrão. Detectou-se precariedade na remediação nos lixões desativados, pois a simples cobertura com terra não é suficiente, já que o material ali depositado continua poluindo através do chorume produzido. Atualmente, todos os municípios depositam os seus resíduos sólidos urbanos em aterros sanitários localizados em Xanxerê e Xaxim. Dos quatorze municípios, somente um possui coleta seletiva e ainda de forma precária. Atualmente, coleta-se 54,15 ton/dia de resíduos, totalizando-se uma média de 0,610 g/hab.dia de lixo, a um custo de R$ 1,78/hab para os cofres públicos mensalmente.

The aim of this study was to carry out diagnosis about the destination given to the urban solid wastes in AMAI-SC region, which has fourteen cities. It was applied questionnaires to the city halls, and visits to map active and inactive dumps, controlled and sanitary landfill. It was investigated: the existence of fences, monitoring and collecting of gas and leachate, if they were next to the superficial waters, the presence of animals or collectors. It was considered, also, the distance of houses and/or urban mass and information about selective collection. It was found twenty and seven inactive dumps, where eighteen had received treatment. It was detected precariousness in remediation of all inactive dumps, because a single covering with land is not enough, therefore the material put there, keeps polluting through the production of lard and methane gas. Nowadays, all AMAI cities put their urban solid wastes in sanitary landfill found in Xanxerê and Xaxim. Among the fourteen cities, only one has selective collection, and in a precarious way, what reduces the useful life time of landfill, beyond being harmful to the environment. It is collected 54.15 tons/day of wastes, which sums 0.610 g/hab.day of waste, costing R$ 1.78 to the public coffers monthly.