Revirando o Lixo: possibilidades e limites da reciclagem como alternativa de tratamento dos resíduos sólidos

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the possibilities of recycling schemes within the Integrated Management of Municipal Solid Waste, within which the treatments are in constant process of rivalry and mutual accommodation. The aim is to understand how this process happens in Brazil and the conditions required for the recycling to occupy a significant proportion in these systems. Recycling will be addressed at four levels, starting with a more general discussion of the relationship between the capitalist system of production and consumption, and the waste generation. On a second level are analyzed combinations of treatment and disposal of waste, taking into account that no alternative can be considered as the best according to the environmental, technical, economic, political or social criteria. At the third level, the functioning and the limits of the reverse logistics process is analyzed. That is one of the main impediments to the productive chain of recycling to achieve greater proportion within the systems of GIRSU. Finally, deepening the complexity of this subject, we analyze a case study selective collection at Itaúna-MG, raising factors that affect efficiency and hence the viability of recycling as a means of treating municipal solid waste.