Circular Economy and Solid Waste Management: Challenges and Opportunities in Brazil

Sandro Donnini Mancini (), Gerson Araújo Medeiros, Michel Xocaira Paes, Benone Otávio Souza Oliveira, Maria Lúcia Pereira Antunes, Ricardo Gabbay Souza, José Lázaro Ferraz, Ana Paula Bortoleto and José Antônio Puppim Oliveira
Additional contact information
Sandro Donnini Mancini: São Paulo State University (Unesp)
Gerson Araújo Medeiros: São Paulo State University (Unesp)
Michel Xocaira Paes: Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV)
Benone Otávio Souza Oliveira: Federal University of Amazonas
Maria Lúcia Pereira Antunes: São Paulo State University (Unesp)
Ricardo Gabbay Souza: São Paulo State University (Unesp)
José Lázaro Ferraz: FATEC—Faculty of Technology of Sorcaba
Ana Paula Bortoleto: University of Campinas—UNICAMP
José Antônio Puppim Oliveira: Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV)

Circular Economy and Sustainability, 2021, vol. 1, issue 1, 261-282

Abstract: Abstract Brazil has a vast territory and regional diversity, which turn the promotion of circular economy (or its improvement) into a complex challenge. This paper aims to analyse these challenges and solid waste management opportunities as a driving force for the circular economy in Brazil. Therefore, two significant challenges are discussed in this paper: increasing industrial waste recovery and improving the selective collection of municipal solid waste. Industries are concentrated in the country’s South and Southeast regions, where 56% of the population live and where the best logistic infrastructure is also located. These features can help the circular economy related to industrial and municipal solid waste in those regions but bring challenges concerning the waste generated in the other part, such as the Brazilian Amazon. According to legislation, the productive sector is responsible for its products before and after use (waste prevention actions). One of the national laws establishes reverse logistic systems for several items, such as agrochemical packaging and electrical and electronic waste, but some sectors have better results than others in terms of circular economy. The cement industry in Brazil is highlighted as a case of relative success. On the other hand, the mining industry in Brazil has challenges related to the large amount of waste generated with high environmental and social risks, which caused several large accidents in the last years.

Keywords: Municipal solid waste; Industry; Recycling; Reverse logistics; Amazon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43615-021-00031-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:circec:v:1:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s43615-021-00031-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer.com/journal/43615

DOI: 10.1007/s43615-021-00031-2

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Circular Economy and Sustainability from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().