Transitioning towards a sustainable circular city: How to evaluate and improve urban solid waste management in Brazil.

A circular city (CC) promotes circular economy (CE) principles. Efficient urban solid waste management (USWM) strategies are essential for promoting a CE at the municipal level. New tools are needed to evaluate waste management (WM) and increase the reuse and recycling of materials to accelerate the transition towards a CC. These tools could assist decision and policymakers in adopting, implementing, and monitoring circular practices. This study proposes creating an index (USWM-index) to evaluate WM in urban areas and discuss how it could be better managed in future sustainable circular cities in Brazil. The index allows city managers to integratively and sustainably assess their USWM. Decision-makers can also use the index to set goals and objectives for recycling and reusing generated waste in cities. The index comprises 19 indicators and 51 sub-indicators. These elements were divided into five groups: Operational, Environmental, Political-economic, Educational, and Social. Cities can assess their performance in each group by using the USWM-index. The index was applied to four Brazilian cities. All cities had their USWM classified as average, and they did not have initiatives to transition to sustainable circular cities regarding WM. This study presents guidelines for transitioning from a linear city to a sustainable circular city in terms of WM.

An assessment tool for healthcare waste management in Brazilian municipalities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put healthcare waste management (HCWM) systems under pressure worldwide. In Brazil, where municipalities routinely experience challenges in ensuring suitable disposal of healthcare waste (HCW), the pandemic has made this even more challenging. Therefore, the creation of tools and methods to help in municipal HCWM during the COVID-19 pandemic is of utmost importance. This article presents the development of a tool to evaluate HCWM in Brazilian municipalities during the pandemic. Following guidelines of health agencies, 56 indicators and 18 criteria were selected to create a tool called the municipal healthcare waste management assessment index (iMHWaste). These indicators and criteria were divided into operational, environmental, political-economic, educational and social groups. Each group considers essential aspects for sustainable management, safety and reduced spread of coronavirus. The analytic hierarchy process was used to assign the weights attributed to the groups and criteria. The indicators can be measured according to a standardized rating scale proposed for each one. These elements were aggregated with a weighted linear combination, into an equation that allows the calculation of the iMHWaste. The index is rated on a scale of 0-1. The index was applied in a Brazilian municipality considering a pre-pandemic HCWM. With the identification of the municipality's management weaknesses, it was possible to identify the main actions that should be prioritized in the transition from traditional HCWM during the pandemic.

An assessment tool for municipal construction waste management in Brazilian municipalities.

Construction waste is generated during construction and remodelling undertakings. Construction waste management (CWM) is a challenge in developing countries such as Brazil. Thus, it is necessary to create tools by which CWM may be evaluated. This article presents the elaboration of a tool to assess CWM in Brazilian cities; moreover, this method facilitates such analyses in regions which lack substantial quantitative data. In doing so, the tool, known as the Assessment Index for Construction Waste Management (ICWM), combines quantitative and qualitative information and is composed of 49 indicators and 19 criteria divided into the following groups: operational; environmental; politico-economic, educational; and social. The analytic hierarchy process was used to assign the weights attributed to the groups and criteria to build the index. The indicators were measured according to a standardized rating scale proposed for each one. These elements were aggregated in a mathematical formula that enables the calculation of the ICWM. The aggregation method used was a weighted linear combination, and the index is rated on a 0 to 1 scale. The ICWM was tested in four municipalities. In all cases, the management was considered inefficient. The proposed tool proved to be effective in evaluating the CWM. In cities where the ICWM was tested, it was possible to identify the significant deficiencies of the CWM and recommend improvement actions to develop more efficient and sustainable management.

Caracterização e avaliação de processos de seleção de resíduos sólidos urbanos por meio da técnica de mapeamento / Characterization and evaluation of selection processes of urban solid waste through mapping technique

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados da aplicação da técnica de mapeamento para a caracterização e avaliação dos processos de seleção de resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) desenvolvidos nas instalações de uma associação de catadores de materiais recicláveis. O trabalho utiliza métodos qualitativos por meio da pesquisa bibliográfica e estudo de caso. O levantamento de dados contou com observação, entrevista e questionário. Dentre as técnicas disponíveis para o mapeamento, foram utilizados o SIPOC, o mapa de processo e o mapofluxograma. O mapeamento de processos como ferramenta gerencial possibilitou a visualização dos processos em diferentes escalas, o relacionamento entre as atividades e o cruzamento de fluxo (transporte) dentro do galpão, sendo esse um dos principais gargalos de produção.

The objective of this work was to present the application of the mapping technique for characterization and evaluation of procedures for selection of urban solid waste (USW) developed in an association of recyclable materials collectors. This work use qualitative methods through bibliographic research and case study. The gathering of data was performed by observation, interviews and questionnaire. Amongst the techniques available for the mapping, SIPOC, process map and flowchart map were used. The process mapping as a management tool made possible the visualization of the processes in different scales, the relationship between the activities and the flow crossing (transportation) in the deposits, one of the main bottlenecks of production.