Corporate Responsibility in Practice: Co-processing …
277
According to the latest Solid Waste Panorama from Abrelpe (2016), 78.3 million
tons of MSW were generated in 2016. It dropped by 2% compared to 2015. From the
MSW collected (only 91.6% of the total waste generated) more than half were sent
to landfills, equivalent to approximately 41.7 million tons, and part of these waste
went to dumps, which were prohibited by law. Each Brazilian launches on average
1.04 kg of waste per day (Abrelpe 2016).
Abrelpe survey (2016) also showed that 3,878 municipalities have selective collection initiatives, representing only 69.62% of the municipalities. The Southern region
has the highest percentage of municipalities with a selective collection. According
to a study by IPEA (Applied Economic Research Institute) (2017) only 13% of the
municipal solid waste collected is recycled.
In 2014 all dumps in Brazil should be extinguished under Law No 12305, established in 2010, and landfills should receive waste only after all other possibilities of
recovery or treatment had been exhausted. With this measure, co-processing in Brazil
gains strength because this environmentally appropriate solution is provided for by
law (ABCP 2016) and becomes a good alternative for the disposal of waste, also can
reduce the environmental impact of the areas of disposition and the environmental
liabilities (Abrelpe 2016).
According to ABCP (2016), Brazil has a great potential for waste co-processing,
estimated at 2.5 million tons per year. There are 57 industries that have furnaces with
co-processing technology, in which 38 are licensed to perform the activity (ABCP
2015). In 2015, the research conducted by ABCP revealed that 1.07 million tons of
waste were co-processed in Brazil.
3 Methodology
This study had the purpose to obtain an alternative solution for the disposal of tailings
from the MSW of a cooperative by co-processing it. Thus, the research steps of this
study are represented in Fig. 3.
Each step of the methodology performed is detailed next.
Visit in Loco and Preparation of the Flowchart: for the realization of this step it
was necessary to visit 4 times the cooperative of recyclers “Associação de reciclagem
Lutar e Vencer” (ARLeV), located in Campo Largo. In order to understand how the
current system works, what are their needs, challenges, and limitations, a structured
observation and interview with the President of the Association were made. For the
interview, a questionnaire about the process were prepared before the visit (Appendix
1). For the observation of the activities, some visits were made to the Cooperative
and to the city transshipment station to understand its operation in a more detailed
way.
Waste and destination data collection: This step was also carried out at ARLeV
during the visits mentioned above. From the interview with the president, it was
possible to obtain information about the types and destinations of the tailings, as
well as the average quantities and their buyers. In addition, a detailed analysis of the
277
According to the latest Solid Waste Panorama from Abrelpe (2016), 78.3 million
tons of MSW were generated in 2016. It dropped by 2% compared to 2015. From the
MSW collected (only 91.6% of the total waste generated) more than half were sent
to landfills, equivalent to approximately 41.7 million tons, and part of these waste
went to dumps, which were prohibited by law. Each Brazilian launches on average
1.04 kg of waste per day (Abrelpe 2016).
Abrelpe survey (2016) also showed that 3,878 municipalities have selective collection initiatives, representing only 69.62% of the municipalities. The Southern region
has the highest percentage of municipalities with a selective collection. According
to a study by IPEA (Applied Economic Research Institute) (2017) only 13% of the
municipal solid waste collected is recycled.
In 2014 all dumps in Brazil should be extinguished under Law No 12305, established in 2010, and landfills should receive waste only after all other possibilities of
recovery or treatment had been exhausted. With this measure, co-processing in Brazil
gains strength because this environmentally appropriate solution is provided for by
law (ABCP 2016) and becomes a good alternative for the disposal of waste, also can
reduce the environmental impact of the areas of disposition and the environmental
liabilities (Abrelpe 2016).
According to ABCP (2016), Brazil has a great potential for waste co-processing,
estimated at 2.5 million tons per year. There are 57 industries that have furnaces with
co-processing technology, in which 38 are licensed to perform the activity (ABCP
2015). In 2015, the research conducted by ABCP revealed that 1.07 million tons of
waste were co-processed in Brazil.
3 Methodology
This study had the purpose to obtain an alternative solution for the disposal of tailings
from the MSW of a cooperative by co-processing it. Thus, the research steps of this
study are represented in Fig. 3.
Each step of the methodology performed is detailed next.
Visit in Loco and Preparation of the Flowchart: for the realization of this step it
was necessary to visit 4 times the cooperative of recyclers “Associação de reciclagem
Lutar e Vencer” (ARLeV), located in Campo Largo. In order to understand how the
current system works, what are their needs, challenges, and limitations, a structured
observation and interview with the President of the Association were made. For the
interview, a questionnaire about the process were prepared before the visit (Appendix
1). For the observation of the activities, some visits were made to the Cooperative
and to the city transshipment station to understand its operation in a more detailed
way.
Waste and destination data collection: This step was also carried out at ARLeV
during the visits mentioned above. From the interview with the president, it was
possible to obtain information about the types and destinations of the tailings, as
well as the average quantities and their buyers. In addition, a detailed analysis of the