Proposal of a sustainability index for intermunicipal cooperation on waste management.

The management of solid waste is one of the biggest challenges for sustainability. Aiming at gains of scale, guaranteeing universal access and the technical and economic viability of the services, intermunicipal cooperation has been implemented in several countries, and in Brazil, it presents itself as one of the main instruments of public policies in the sector of sanitation. The main objective of this article is to propose a set of indicators and the construction of an index to evaluate the performance of regionalized management of urban solid waste, applying them to intermunicipal public consortia operating in Brazil. Based on the Delphi methodology, a total of 15 indicators were defined, divided into 5 sustainability dimensions, used for the construction of the Regionalized Urban Solid Waste Management Performance Index (IDGRSU). In Brazil, the performance of regionalized management was classified as Regular for most of the operating consortia analysed. The adequacy of the final disposal in regional sanitary landfills is the common practice among the municipalities, and consequently, the reduction of the areas of dumps represents the main advance in the management. The index developed proved to be an important instrument to support municipalities and consortia for waste management, contributing to the implementation of sustainable strategies and to the development of policies, and its application in other countries is feasible, regardless of the size of the municipalities.

Metodologia para avaliação dos consórcios de resíduos sólidos urbanos em Minas Gerais / Methodology for assessment of consortia of municipal solid waste in Minas Gerais

RESUMO Um dos grandes problemas enfrentados atualmente nas áreas urbanizadas é a disposição final dos resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU). Essa problemática contempla todo o processo de produção do resíduo, seu descarte, acondicionamento, coleta, transporte, tratamento e disposição final, bem como o padrão de consumo contemporâneo. Os estudos previstos no âmbito desta pesquisa têm como objetivos fortalecer os consórcios, ampliando a sua importância, representatividade e abrangência, favorecer a integração com as entidades e instituições relacionadas ao tema, aumentando as discussões no âmbito regional, e avaliar as rotas tecnológicas aplicadas ao tratamento dos resíduos dos municípios integrantes dos consórcios. Este artigo apresenta uma metodologia para avaliação dos consórcios de RSU em Minas Gerais como uma alternativa no campo da gestão de RSU, para fins de otimização de recursos e gestão de serviços que fazem a gestão de RSU viável para todos. Nesse sentido, é realizada uma análise das rotas tecnológicas de RSU, avaliando-se a eficácia da tecnologia utilizada nos municípios com base nos consórcios já formados e nas propostas dos Arranjos Territoriais Ótimos (ATOs) de Minas Gerais.

ABSTRACT One of the major problems currently faced in urbanized areas is the final disposal of the municipal solid waste (MSW) generated. The problem, however, is not restricted only to its final disposal, but instead encompasses the whole process of the production of waste, its discarding, storage, collection, transportation, treatment, and final disposal, as well as current consumption patterns. The studies planned under this research aim to strengthen consortia, increasing their importance, representativeness, and scope, and also encourage the integration with entities and institutions involved in the field, fostering discussions at the regional level and evaluate technological routes applied by the consortia. This article presents the methodology for assessment of Consortia of municipal solid waste in the state of Minas Gerais as an alternative in the field of MSW management, for the purposes of scale increase, resource optimization, and operation of services making MSW management viable for everyone. Then, it does an analysis of the MSW technological routes, evaluating the effectiveness of the technology used in the municipalities taking into account of already formed consortia and proposals in Minas Gerais Optimal Territorial Arrangements (ATOs).

Avaliação da biodegradabilidade anaeróbia de lixiviados de aterro sanitários / Evaluate of the anaerobic biodegradability of landfill leachate

Os objetivos deste artigo foram investigar as condições ambientais e operacionais favoráveis ao desenvolvimento do teste de biodegradabilidade anaeróbia para lixiviados de aterro sanitário. As condições avaliadas foram a relação alimento/microrganismo (A/M), aclimatação do lodo, e toxicidade devido à alta concentração de amônia. Os resultados indicaram que a relação A/M equivalente a 0,45 apresentou-se como a mais favorável à realização do teste, e que o lodo empregado apresentou boa capacidade de adaptação ao lixiviado, não demandando aclimatação prévia. O lixiviado em questão apresentou relativamente baixa biodegradabilidade anaeróbia, associado aos resultados de estudos de biodegradabilidade aeróbia anteriores que sugerem que uma significativa fração de matéria orgânica é refratária mesmo ao metabolismo aeróbio,indica que o tratamento físico-químico deve ser utilizado como forma de pré ou pós-tratamento.

The objectives of this article were to investigate the favorable environment and operational conditions to the development of the anaerobic biodegradability test for landfill leachate. The evaluated conditions were the relation food/microrganismo (A/M), seed acclimatization, and toxicity due to high ammonia concentration. The results indicated that A/M relation equivalent to 0,45 was presented as most favorable to the accomplishment of the test, and that the seed used presented good capacity of adaptation to the leachate, not demanding previous acclimatization. The leachate in question presented relatively low anaerobic biodegradability, and associated to the results of previous studies of aerobic biodegradability suggest that a significant fraction of organic substance is refractory to the aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, indicating that the physical-chemical treatment must be used as form of pre or post-treatment.