Autor: BRUNO DUARTE AZEVEDO
Orientador: Luiz Felipe Roris Rodriguez Scavarda do Carmo & Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado
Data e Hora: 11/04/2022, 9h
Link Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 947 7154 7092
Passcode: 117216
Resumo:
Urban household solid waste management (UHSWM) is a central problem in cities worldwide. The amount of waste produced daily in urban areas challenges society to improve its waste management (WM) practices. While developed countries like Germany have achieved respectable results with different UHSWM initiatives, developing countries still struggle to be effective with their policies. Given the constant growth of slums, the lack of economic resources, the social inequality, and the lack of participation of the main stakeholders of the process, countries like Brazil still did not find the right path towards a sustainable WM system, which is an essential part of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Although the literature offers a large and growing number of publications in SSCM and UHSWM, there is a lack of studies linking the two themes, especially considering the practical reality of a developing country. The present thesis aims to fulfill this gap by analyzing UHSWM integrating the principles of the SSCM from the perspective of industry, public sector, and the local community, towards presenting alternatives for its improvement in Brazil. To achieve this goal, a multimethod approach with four main research steps was adopted: first, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) in SSCM; second a longitudinal case study at the Rocinha slum located in the city Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); third a within and cross-case analysis on UHSWM between two cities from Brazil (Macaé) and Germany (Münster); and finally, a survey with residents of the metropolitan area of Macaé to understand their acceptance of German practices. The main research findings indicate that to tackle environmental problems related to UHSWM in developing countries, it is necessary to solve basic social issues related to education, security, and infrastructure, with the integration and support of government, local community, and industry. The comparison with the German UHSWM system indicates that the Brazilian industry is still far from fulfilling the social and environmental pillars of SSCM and should be held economically responsible for the life cycle of its products, facing the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR). This additional investment can enable improvement in job conditions, in technologies, and on regular public campaigns to increase education in important sustainable matters, leading to the formalization of the recycling chain. The pillars of the German system (i.e., clear laws, regular public campaigns, and fee methodology) appear as a viable solution to improve UHSWM in developing countries, however the research findings indicate that the Brazilians are still not willing to pay for all the costs involved in this process, especially those related to recyclables collection/treatment. This scenario reinforces the need for large educational campaigns, especially in schools, strengthening a holistic and multi-perspective view to increase the comprehension of the problem. To facilitate this agenda, a guideline with feasible alternatives to support policy makers in developing countries to deal with the challenges associated to UHSWM, and to meet the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is also presented. Finally, this research contributes to academics and practitioners providing empirical evidence to enrich the ongoing debate on the topic, as it not only presents real-life case situations in different realities, but also highlights issues that should be considered and managed in a real context to develop and implement appropriate techniques to deal with UHSWM in developing countries.