The waste management market - Brazil

1.1 Definition and scope of study

Waste management includes all the technical, administrative and financial activities necessary for the disposal, collection, transport, treatment, recovery and disposal of waste, as well as the planning and supervision of such operations and the monitoring of the final disposal sites after closure.

As determined by Law no. 12,305/2010 (National Policy for Solid Waste), waste management needs to ensure maximum recycling, as well as the reduction of waste - which are the materials that are not technically and economically feasible for the recycling process. Solid waste management is divided between public administration, the companies and the people. Each generator must be responsible for what it produces, whether at home or at work. It is essential that generators strive to reduce the production of waste, contributing to maximum reusage and recycling, as we have already said. Each material, according to its nature, has a specific destination, environmentally correct.

According to the Brazilian Association of Public Cleaning Companies and Special Waste (Abrelpe), in 2018 alone, 79 million tons of solid urban waste were generated in the country, an increase of just under 1% over the previous year. Every year, 92% of the garbage is collected and this percentage has been increasing year after year. Urban solid waste covers domestic waste and urban cleaning - collected in cities by local services. Nevertheless, millions of tons of garbage are not collected every year. According to the study, there is a considerable contingent of people who are not reached by regular door-to-door collection services: 1 in every 12 Brazilians does not have regular door-to-door garbage collection. The trend of growth in the generation of urban solid waste in the country is expected to be maintained in the coming years and the country will reach an annual generation of 100 million tons by 2030.