{"id":63898,"date":"2021-02-04T11:17:01","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T14:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=63898"},"modified":"2021-02-05T12:19:39","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T15:19:39","slug":"waste-is-gold-energy-recovery-as-a-solution-for-the-favelas-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=63898","title":{"rendered":"Waste is Gold: Energy Recovery as a Solution for the Favelas [OPINION]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This article is part of a series about energy justice and efficiency in Rio\u2019s favelas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Every day, tons of garbage are collected by vehicles from waste collection utility COMLURB<\/a> in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas. According to data shared by Renato Santos, president of the Residents’ Association of Itarar\u00e9<\/a>, a favela within Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>, from October to November 2020, a total 2,369.63 tons of solid waste were collected from the group of favelas\u20141,180.30 tons in October and 1,189,25 tons in November. Improper disposal of waste<\/a> has been a historic problem in Rio’s favelas and urban peripheries. This is generally seen by residents as a problem with<\/a> service provision or the absence of collection. However, garbage can also be seen as a possibility for generating income for favelas, as well as a way to improve socio-environmental, energy, and basic sanitation issues in their alleys and narrow streets.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Given how difficult it is to access up-to-date and reliable public data about favelas, we contacted COMLURB requesting information about the quantity of waste collected in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o in recent months, while also looking for other sources of information. Days later, we received an email from an employee saying: \u201cWe don\u2019t sort the waste by community. You must have seen some kind of estimate. Can you send it to us so we can see what it is?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With this reality as a starting point\u2014the State\u2019s strategy of using lack of data concerning favelas<\/a> as [justification for a lack of] public policy<\/a>\u2014we aimed to estimate, based on\u00a0available public data<\/a> and data from civil society institutions, an <\/span>interval<\/span>, in tons per day, that represented an approximation of the quantity of waste produced in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o. To do this, the first challenge was determining the number of residents in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o. Once we had this number, we were able to make an estimate of the production\u2014and collection\u2014of waste in these territories. We arrived, mathematically, at a plausible scenario for the volume of waste produced daily in this group of favelas: multiplying the number of residents by the volume, in kilos, of waste produced on average, per Brazilian, every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Population estimates for Complexo do Alem\u00e3o vary greatly, a result of the State\u2019s statistical negligence<\/a> regarding favelas. According to the 2010 census, there are 70,000<\/a> residents; local associations, on the other hand, estimate the population at 120,000<\/a>; and according to other sources, like WikiFavelas, there could be as many as 180,000<\/a>. Bearing this in mind, and taking into consideration that, according to the ABRELPE<\/a> (2020), a Brazilian generates, on average, 1.04kg of waste a day, we estimate that between 80 and 206 tons of waste are produced in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The logistics currently used for the collection of all this waste is insufficient. As a resident, I have observed for years that collection only happens at points spread out along the main roads. Also, though collection occurs every day of the week, during working hours, since Complexo do Alem\u00e3o has narrow streets, with long, steep alleyways with staircases, the collection is always inadequate, sometimes very distant from residents\u2019 houses, and always obstructing traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, pickup is done during what is rush hour for residents, so COMLURB\u2019s big trucks always have to do the removal quickly in order not to interrupt traffic on the main roads, which are often narrow. This leads to a rushed collection: trucks do not have enough time to take away all the garbage from the favela’s collection points. There are always pieces of garbage, slurry and leftovers strewn around, which lead to the habit of discarding trash in points of the favela and the constant presence of disease <\/span>vectors, animals, and insects. Therefore, a lot of waste ends up being left behind, a completely unsanitary situation for residents, even when the community has a regular collection service.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So, there you have it: all these people generating lots of waste every day, and this waste should either leave the favela or be transformed into energy, jobs, and income, ideally locally<\/a>. Starting with reusing and recycling, and reducing consumption, there are various possible sustainable destinations for this waste, some more and some less prevalent. One suggestion that I believe can be transformational, both environmentally and economically, as well as being energy-efficient and promoting fair distributional justice for this and for other favelas, is to transform waste into biomethane gas\u2014a clean and renewable energy strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The generation and production of biomethane gas from waste is already a reality in many European countries, such as Norway and Sweden<\/a>. The use of sanitary landfills for organic waste has been banned<\/a> in Norway since 2009. Following a similar path to Norway, Sweden is the world leader<\/a> in energy recovery from waste, with less than 1% of its trash going into sanitary landfills<\/a>. Through various processes that start, first, with intense reduction, recycling, reuse and anaerobic digestion, the Swedish also make use of limited incineration in waste-to-energy (WTE) plants<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Notably, Sweden has one of the highest recycling rates in the world\u201499%<\/a> of what is thrown away is recycled. We should, first of all, avoid consumption and the generation of waste; reuse products and materials as much as possible in their original form; recycle materials, transforming them into new products; recover energy from materials; and, as a last resort, dispose of waste in landfills. The success of the Swedish recycling system<\/a> comes from the population’s environmental awareness. Moreover, there is a law that makes it the responsibility of the producer or manufacturer<\/a> to guarantee that whoever manufactures, transfers<\/span> or imports a certain type of product must make sure that this product\u2014after it is discarded\u2014is collected, transported, recycled or incinerated in the right way. By guaranteeing waste disposal that is acceptable to people’s health and to the environment, expensive Swedish sanitary landfills are only used as a last resort.<\/span><\/p>\n