MESMEG / Department of Mining and Environmental Geology / The increase in the demand and market price of gold has led to reprocessing of gold tailings in many parts of the world. Mines are recently closing down due to depletion of resources and increasing mining costs leading to the reprocessing of old tailings dams. The cost of rehabilitation is high, and therefore a more convenient way of rehabilitation is required. The most convenient strategy identified here was to reprocess tailings for gold and use waste rocks as construction materials. The tailings residues (waste remaining after reprocessing) will be relocated to a more convenient place to avoid pollution. Gold reprocessing from tailings dams has gained momentum in South Africa especially in the Witwatersrand Basin where there are large volumes of tailings. Gold is being reprocessed from tailings in this area using hydraulic monitors. This study focused on the evaluation of gold and heavy metals within the tailings at Consolidated Murchison Mine tailings in Gravelotte, Limpopo province. Augering was conducted over the tailings up to a depth of 8 m along four sampling Profiles. The first profile had two sampling points, the second profile with three sampling points, the third and fourth profiles consisted of four and five sampling points respectively. Samples were collected at 1 m interval, therefore a total of 112 samples were collected and analysed for heavy metals using X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry and 84 samples were analysed for gold using fire assaying. Tailings sampling was accompanied with tailings logging, taking note of colour, texture and moisture content. Based on this, the oxidation status of the tailings dam was determined. Oxidation zone of this tailings dam was mainly from top down to a depth of 3 m. The transitional zone was not identified, hence after the oxidation zone, the rest was unoxidized zone. This study established that gold was erratically distributed within the tailings dam with the lowest and highest values of 200 mg/kg and 1880 mg/kg respectively and the average was 670 mg/kg. The tonnage of tailings within the dam was found to be 13 280 310 tons with a total gold amount of 8 897. 81 kg. At the current world market, this interprets to US$ 306 932 396.00 (R 4 281 706 924.20). It was concluded that this tailings dam is economically viable for reprocessing, although previous studies have indicated that it is not possible to extract gold from tailings dams completely. The heavy metal content of Pb, Ni and Cr were found to be high with average values of (ppm); 5631.5, 2062.6 and 1345 v respectively. The metals with the lowest values were Cd, Co and Cu, averaging (ppm); 0.01 ppm, 19.8 ppm and 42.1 ppm respectively. Heavy metal content in soil around the tailings dam was gradually decreasing with distance from the tailings dam. Waste rocks have been used in some parts of the world as sub-base material for engineering construction, hence in this study, a total of 6 waste rock samples were collected using grab sampling method for geostatistical investigation. Such samples were subjected to various geotechnical tests which included particle size distribution analysis (sieve analysis), Atterberg limit tests and laboratory compaction test to determine their suitability for construction. The waste rock material was found to be suitable for road construction as it was classified under Group A-1-a using the AASHTO classification system. The material consisted mainly of rock fragments, gravel and sand material with minor silt/clay. In general, Consolidated Murchison mine waste was found to be suitable for road construction. / NRF

The management of clinical waste is of great importance due to its infectious and hazardous nature that can cause risks on environment and public health. The study was conducted to evaluate clinical waste management practices and to determine the amount of waste generated in five purposively selected healthcare facilities in Gaborone City Council. The surveyed healthcare facilities were of different size, specialization and category and included a referral hospital, two clinics and two health posts. To examine clinical waste management practices the study employed a range of methods including questionnaire survey which targeted 105 stratified randomly selected healthcare workers and ancillary staff, formal interviews with facility managers, field observations and literature reviews. Compliance with the Botswana Clinical Waste Management Code of Practice, 1996 and Waste Management Act, 1998 and other related documents were used as standards to assess clinical waste management practices. The waste management practices were analysed for a week in each healthcare facility to capture the daily management practices. The generated clinical waste was weighed to compute the generation rates and was followed through the various management practices to the final disposal. Findings of the study revealed that clinical waste generation rates were: 0.75kg/patient/day for Princess Marina Hospital and 0.1 - 0.3kg/patient/day for clinics and health posts. Numerous aspects of clinical waste management were found to comply with the expected rules and standards at Princess Marina Hospital, but the clinics and health posts had less appropriate practices. Clinical waste generated at Princess Marina Hospital is quantified in reliable records and dedicated Infectious Control Officers are responsible for monitoring the management of clinical waste. The study revealed that clinics and health posts do not quantify clinical waste and there are no officers responsible for monitoring clinical waste and there are no documents for monitoring the management of clinical waste. The main treatment method of clinical waste for the surveyed healthcare facilities is incineration and it is being done properly. The study established that at least 80% of healthcare workers and ancillary staff have been vaccinated against hepatitis B and have received training in clinical waste management. Recommendations are given with the aim of improving clinical waste management practices in Gaborone City Council healthcare facilities. / Environmental Management / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Industrial effluents with high concentrations of heavy metals are widespread pollutants of great concerns as they are known to be persistent and non-degradable. Continuous monitoring and treatment of the effluents become pertinent because of their impacts on wastewater treatment plants. The aim of this study is to determine the correlation between heavy metal pollution in water and the location of industries in order to ascertain the effectiveness of the municipal waste water treatment plant. Heavy metal identification and physico-chemical analysis were done using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and multi-parameter probe respectively. Correlation coefficients of the measured values were done to investigate the effect of the industrial effluents on the treatment plants. Heavy metal resistant bacteria were identified and characterised by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Leeuwkuil wastewater treatment plants were effective in maintaining temperature, pH, and chemical oxygen demand within South Africa green drop and SAGG Standards whereas the purification plant was effective in maintaining the values of Cu, Zn, Al, temperature, BOD, COD, and TDS within the SANS and WHO standard for potable water. This findings indicated the need for the treatment plants to be reviewed.The industrial wastewater were identified as a point source of heavy metal pollution that influenced Leeuwkuil wastewater treatment plants and the purification plants in Vaal, Vereenining South Africa. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Bacillus sp. strain and Bacillus toyonensis that showed 100% similarity were found to be resistant to Al, Cu, Pb and Zn. These identified bacteria can be considered for further study in bioremediation. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

A Construção Civil é um dos setores que mais consomem matérias-primas e também gera resíduos sólidos urbanos. É importante, que se consuma menos matérias-primas e que sejam aproveitados estes resíduos gerados. Uma das propostas para esta situação seria reciclar estes resíduos e transformá-los em agregados e filers, para então usá-los na produção de concretos. Ainda se encontram muitas barreiras para utilização destes agregados e filers em concretos, com e sem função estrutural e, dentre os principais motivos está a dificuldade de se alcançar resistências similares as dos concretos produzidos com matérias-primas naturais. Devido a este fato, foi proposto um estudo para analisar a influência do empacotamento de partículas nos agregados reciclados e ainda verificar a possibilidade de uso do filer de pó do polimento das placas de concreto para revestimento de piso. Inicialmente foram caracterizados dois lotes de agregados reciclados e apenas o de resíduo de concreto (ARC) foi considerado adequado para o estudo. Foram propostos três planejamentos experimentais compostos por mistura simplex com 4 fatores das misturas, contendo além dos agregados, filer e cimento Portland CP-V. Foram realizados estudos sobre as massas unitárias das amostras, para cada um dos planejamentos, considerando toda a faixa granulométrica, e também, amostras sem o material passante pela peneira com abertura de 0,150 mm. A quantidade de água foi determinada pelo consistômetro de Vebe, e a partir deste dado foi calculado o excesso de pasta. Após a obtenção dos corpos de prova, sob vibrocompactação, foi determinado o comportamento da resistência mecânica e da absorção de água. A análise dos resultados mostrou que o melhor empacotamento de partículas dos agregados ocorre na faixa de 42% a 58% de pedrisco. O filer utilizado em grandes quantidades, aumenta significativamente o consumo de água de amassamento e o de excesso de pasta, e por consequência, o aumento da absorção de água e perda de resistência do concreto seco. Entretanto, em quantidades menores que o volume de poros, a inclusão do filer é aceitável, pois não há afastamento das partículas. Conclui-se que, na faixa granulométrica estudada não houve alteração de resistência mecânica, sendo o fator preponderante a concentração de cimento. As resistências à compressão observadas mostram que estes agregados podem ser utilizados na fabricação de artefatos de concreto, como por exemplo, produção de blocos de vedação. / Civil Construction is one of the sectors that consumes the rawest materials and also generates municipal solid waste. It is important that less raw materials are consumed and that waste generated is used. One of the proposals for this situation would be to recycle these wastes and turn them into aggregates and filers and then use them in the production of concrete. There are still many barriers to the use of these aggregates and filers in concrete, with and without structural function, and among the main reasons is the difficulty of achieving similar resistance to concrete produced with natural raw materials. Due to this fact, a study was proposed to analyze the influence of the packing of particles in the recycled aggregates and to verify the possibility of using the filter of powder of the polishing of the concrete plates for floor covering. Initially, two batches of recycled aggregates were characterized and only that of concrete residue was considered adequate for the study. Three experimental schedules were proposed, composed of 4 factors of the mixtures, plus the aggregates, filer and Portland cement CP-V. Samples were analyzed for the sample masses, considering the entire grain size range, as well as samples without material passing through the sieve with a 0.150 mm opening. The amount of water was determined by the Vebe consist meter, and from this data, the excess paste was calculated. After the test specimens were obtained, under vibrarocompaction, the behavior of the mechanical resistance and the water absorption were determined. The analysis of the results showed that the best packaging of particles of the aggregates occurs in the range of 42% to 58% of hail. The filer used in large quantities significantly increases the consumption of kneading water and excess paste, and consequently, increased water absorption and loss of strength of dry concrete. However, in smaller amounts than the pore volume, the inclusion of the filer is acceptable, since there is no separation of the particles. It was concluded that in the granulometric range studied, there was no change in mechanical strength, being the preponderant factor the concentration of cement. The observed compressive strengths show that these aggregates can be used in the manufacture of concrete artifacts, such as the production of sealing blocks.

Thesis submitted in the requirements for the degree Doctor Technologiae: Chemical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at the CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2013 / To date, limited information has been published on textile wastewater treatment, for re-use, in South Africa (SA), with treatment processes focusing on conventional wastewater treatment methods. A large contributor to the contamination of water within textile industries is from dyehouse processes. A major concern in textile wastewater treatment is the release of azo dyes and their metabolites, some of which are carcinogenic and mutanogenic, into the environment since they are xenobiotic and aerobically recalcitrant to biodegradation. A necessity therefore exists to find an effective treatment method capable of removing both the strong colour and the toxic organic compounds from textile wastewater. Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are favoured when treating high-strength wastewater, since the membrane area is determined by the hydraulic throughput and not the biological load; no sludge is wasted and all bacteria are retained within the reactor, including specific bacteria capable of degrading the toxic, non-biodegradable constituents present in textile wastewater. MBR systems, using various configurations have been utilised extensively in the rest of the world to treat textile wastewater at both lab and pilot-scale. This DTech project formed part of a collaborative Water Research Commission (WRC) funded project K5/1900 - Pilot application of a dual-stage membrane bioreactor (dsMBR) for industrial wastewater treatment. The main purpose of this study was the on-site evaluation of a pilot-scale dsMBR incorporating two ultrafiltration (UF) sidestream membrane modules for the treatment, recovery and re-use of textile wastewater. The objectives of this project were to determine the treatment efficiency of the system; to evaluate the degree of colour removal from the textile wastewater; to improve residual colour removal within the system using treatment processes, such as NF and RO, as well as to propose a design and cost for a full-scale plant. A textile industry located in Bellville, Western Cape, was chosen as the industrial partner for the on-site evaluation of a semi-automated pilot wastewater treatment MBR plant using two 5.1 m2 Norit X-flow AirliftTM membrane modules. Since the wastewater treatment system was located on the premises, real continuously changing industrial wastewater was being treated. The industrial textile wastewater was treated in a series of tanks: 1) an anaerobic tank, which cleaved the azo bonds of the reactive dyes; 2) an anoxic tank containing reduced amounts of dissolved oxygen, in which denitrification occurred; and 3) an aerobic tank, in which i) nitrification, as well as ii) mineralisation of the aromatic amines occurred. The UF-membrane modules would account for the removal of any organic material. The wastewater stream was characterised by a chemical oxygen demand (COD) range of between 45 to 2,820 mg/L and an average biological oxygen demand (BOD) of 192.5 mg/L. The dsMBR achieved an average COD reduction of 75% with a maximum of 97% over the 220 day test period. The COD concentration obtained after dsMBR treatment averaged at 191 mg/L, which was well within the City of Cape Town industrial wastewater discharge standard. The average reduction in turbidity and TSS was 94% and 19.6%, respectively, during the UF-MBR stage of the system. Subsequent treatment of the UF permeate with nanofiltration (NF) for 4 days, alternated with reverse osmosis (RO) for 14 days removed both the residual colour and salt present in the UF permeate. A consistent reduction in the colour of the incoming wastewater was evident. The colour in the wastewater was reduced from an average of 659 ADMI units to ~12 ADMI units in the NF permeate, a lower American dye manufacturing index (ADMI) (i.e. method of colour representation) compared to the potable water (~17 ADMI units) utilised by the industrial partner in their dyeing processes. The colour was reduced from an average of 659 to ~20 ADMI units in the RO permeate, a lower ADMI and therefore colour when compared to the potable water. An average conductivity rejection of 91% was achieved with conductivity being reduced from an average of 7,700 to 693 μS/cm and the TDS reduced from an average of 5,700 to 473 mg/L, which facilitated an average TDS rejection of 92%. Based on the composition of the UF permeate fed to the RO membrane a maximum removal of 98.7% was achieved for both conductivity and total dissolved solids (TDS). The proposed full-scale plant would incorporate a UF-MBR system, followed by NF, RO, flocculation and a filter press. Therefore, the two waste products produced during operation of the proposed full-scale plant, would be the solid filter cakes and the liquid filtrate from the filter press. Implementing the proposed full-scale plant it would cost the industrial partner an operating cost of ZAR 113.85 and ZAR 3,415.49 to treat 97.1 m3 and 2,913 m3 of textile wastewater, respectively, per day and per month. This results in an annual saving of ZAR 845,848 on potable water expenses. This research, would provide SA textile industries, with an option to: 1) reduce their water consumption, thereby utilising less of a valuable decreasing commodity; 2) meet the SA government discharge standards and reduce their discharge costs; 3) reduce their carbon footprint (i.e. reduce their impact on the environment) by re-using their treated wastewater and therefore using less water from the municipality; and 4) decrease their annual expenditure on water, since the treated wastewater would be available for re-use.

CAPES / Atualmente há preocupação da sociedade em relação aos impactos gerados pelas indústrias ao meio ambiente. Para produção de celulose e de papel é usada grande quantidade de água, madeira e produtos químicos, sendo gerado efluente nos diferentes processos produtivos da indústria. A matéria orgânica e a cor do efluente do processo Kraft se devem à presença de moléculas derivadas da lignina que são difíceis de serem removidas ou biodegradadas. Com vistas à remedição deste efluente, o presente trabalho busca avaliar a remoção de cor e matéria orgânica residual de efluente de celulose Kraft pré-tratado biologicamente, usando carvão ativado de casca de coco e argila montmorilonita pelo método de adsorção através de delineamentos experimentais. Para remoção de cor e matéria orgânica foram avaliados os fatores: a) pH do efluente; b) massa do material adsorvente no processo de adsorção e c) temperatura. A capacidade de adsorção de matéria orgânica e cor no carvão ativado e argila montmorilonita foram determinados pelo modelo matemático de Langmuir e Freundlich, por meio de ensaios de construção de isotermas de adsorção em efluente Kraft. O efluente foi caracterizado quanto a DQO, DBO5,20, COT e cor verdadeira antes e depois do tratamento terciário. Para o tratamento do efluente foram empregadas duas temperaturas: 25 e 40°C, seguiu-se planejamento fatorial completo 32 em triplicata com ponto central tendo como variáveis pH (5,0; 6,0 e 7,0) e massa de material adsorvente (0,5; 1,0 e 1,5 g). O planejamento experimental utilizado permitiu obter os melhores resultados com carvão ativado em 40 °C, pH 7,0 e 1,5 g de adsorvente com remoção de: 98% de COT, 83% de DQO, 97% de DBO5,20 e 95% de cor verdadeira e para argila em temperatura de 40 oC, pH 7, e 1,5 g de adsorvente com remoção de: 55% de COT, 50% de DQO, 90% de DBO5,20, e 56% de cor verdadeira. A principal variável responsável pela remoção de cor e matéria orgânica foi a massa de adsorvente seguida do pH. Também foi avaliada a possibilidade de aproveitamento do resíduo obtido a partir do processo de adsorção na incorporação de cinzas de carvão na produção de argamassas com teores de 0,4%, 1,0% e 1,2%; em cimento portland, areia e água com tempos de cura de 7 e 28 dias fazendo testes de resistência à compressão. Para a reutilização da argila foram utilizados 15% de argila do processo de adsorção, 25% de vidro e 60% de argila vermelha, para a confecção de corpos de prova cerâmico à temperatura de 1100 oC a 1150 oC. De modo geral, o processo de tratamento proposto neste trabalho utilizando carvão ativado, demostrou ser boa alternativa comparado com argila montmorilonita para redução de cor e matéria orgânica residual do efluente de processo Kraft, tendo-se em vista a utilização da cinza do carvão utilizado no processo de adsorção como um agregado para formação de argamassas na construção civil e argila utilizada na adsorção como material cerâmico. / Nowadays, there is a concern of society regarding the impacts caused by the industries on the environment. Large amounts of water, wood and chemichal are used to produce cellulose and paper, and contaminated effluents are generated through the various industrial processes associated. The organic matter and the color of the Kraft effluent are due to the presence of lignin-derived molecules that are difficult to be removed or biodegraded. With intent to remediate this effluent, this study aim to evaluate the removal of color and residual organic matter from biologically pretreated Kraft effluent, using activated carbon from coconut shell and montmorillonite clay by adsorption method through experimental designs. For the color and organic matter removal, the following factors were evaluated: a) pH of the effluent; b) the mass of the adsorbent material in the adsorption process and c) temperature. The adsorption capacity of organic matter and color in the activated carbon and in the montmorillonite clay were determined by the mathematical model of Langmuir and Freundlich, by means of isotherm adsorption construction in Kraft effluent.The effluent was characterized by COD, DBO5,20, COT and true color before and after the tertiary treatment. For it treatment two temperatures were employed: 25 °C and 40 °C, followed by a 32 full factorial design with center point in triplicate, using pH (5.0, 6.0 and 7.0) and masses of adsorbent material (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 g) as variables. The experimental design used showed that the best results with activated carbon are obtained at 40 ° C, pH 7.0 and 1.5 g of adsorbent with removals of 98% of TOC, 83% of COD, 97% of BOD5,25 and 95% of true color. With clay, the best results occurred at temperature of 40 ° C, pH 7, and 1.5 g of adsorbent to remove 55% of COT, 50% of COD, 90% of BOD5,20 and 56% of true color. The main responsible for the removal of color and organic matter was the mass of adsorbent, followed by the pH. It was also evaluated the possibility of using the residue obtained from the adsorption process in the incorporation of carbon ash to produce mortars with levels of 0.4%, 1.0% and 1.2% in Portland cement, sand and water, with curing times of 7 and 28 days, for which compressive strength tests were performed. To reuse the clay, 15% of the clay from the adsorption process was used, together with 25% of glass and 60% of red clay, in order to construct ceramics bodies specimen generated at temperatures from 1100 °C to 1150 °C. The treatment process proposed in this work using activated carbon demonstrated to be, in general, a good alternative compared to montmorillonite clay for the color reduction and residual organic matter removal from Kraft process effluent, while residues from both process can be used as aggregates for mortars and ceramic body production.

O objetivo do trabalho foi sensibilizar moradores e alunos de uma comunidade piloto quanto à correta separação, destinação e valorização dos resíduos sólidos, visando à melhoria nas condições de trabalho e de renda dos catadores de materiais recicláveis da central de triagem. A metodologia principal foi a pesquisa ação, que envolveu três etapas: fase exploratória, de ação e de avaliação. Para embasamento das ações de sensibilização, a fase exploratória contou, primeiramente, com o estudo da dinâmica de trabalho em uma central de triagem. Tal estudo se justifica pelo fato de que uma central de triagem é o elo principal entre a fonte geradora de resíduos sólidos e as indústrias recicladoras. Além disso, foi realizado diagnóstico da percepção de moradores e alunos sobre a separação e a valorização dos resíduos sólidos, em uma um bairro piloto, alvo das ações de sensibilização. Na fase de avaliação, novo estudo do entendimento da comunidade piloto foi feito para compreender se a sensibilização trouxe mudanças de percepção e se houve algum tipo de interferência nos gargalos diagnosticados na central de triagem. Os principais resultados apontaram as etapas de triagem e do rejeito como gargalos, as quais sofrem interferência da segregação nas fontes geradoras e da deficiência dos sistemas de logística reversa para escoamento dos resíduos. As ações de sensibilização com alunos e moradores resultaram em aprimoramento da percepção quanto à importância do envio de materiais limpos e secos à coleta seletiva; ao conhecimento de uma associação de catadores e à importância de destinar resíduos especiais, como lâmpadas fluorescentes, às revendas, diminuindo a recepção de resíduos perigosos na central de triagem. Os resultados servirão para embasar as discussões com a cadeia produtiva visando ao escoamento sustentável dos resíduos, e as ações já foram replicadas no município em toda a rede municipal e estadual de ensino, e em residências atendidas pelo programa das agentes comunitárias de saúde. / The objective of this work was to sensitize residents and students in a pilot community for proper separation, disposal and recovery of solid waste in order to improve working conditions and income of recyclable materials collectors from a sorting center. The main methodology was action research, which involved three stages: exploratory, action and evaluation. The working dynamics study in a sorting center based sensitization actions, in exploratory stage. The main link between the source of solid waste and recycling industries is a sorting center that is why this study is important. Moreover, perception diagnosis of separation and recycling of solid waste was made with residents and students in a pilot neighborhood. New study was done in the evaluation phase to find perception changes and to know if sensitization actions interfered in the sorting center bottlenecks diagnosed. The main results showed that steps of sorting and tailings are bottlenecks, suffering interference from domiciliary segregation and deficiency of reverse logistics systems for waste disposal. Sensitization actions with students and residents improved the perception of sending clean and dry recyclable materials to selective collection. Also improved the knowledge of an association of recyclable material collectors and the importance of devoting hazardous wastes such as fluorescent lamps, to resellers, decreasing the receipt of this kind of waste at the sorting center. The results will be used to support discussions with the producers chain toward sustainable waste disposal. Actions have already been replicated in the city throughout municipal and state schools, and homes served by the program of community health workers.

Esta Tese desenvolveu um instrumento para avaliação de desempenho ambiental no gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos industriais. A verificação das práticas considera o transcurso do ciclo de vida do produto por meio de indicadores e índices tendo como parâmetros alicerçadores a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos e conceitos afins, como a logística reversa, a Produção mais Limpa e o Ecodesign, além de normas da série ISO 14000 tais como Sistemas de Gestão Ambiental, Integração de aspectos ambientais no projeto e desenvolvimento de produtos, Rotulagem ambiental e Avaliação de Desempenho Ambiental. O objetivo central da Tese, que foi desenvolver um modelo para avaliação de desempenho ambiental, esta contido neste panorama, o qual recorreu aos recursos da modelagem fuzzy a fim de assessorar as organizações na tomada de decisões. A metodologia, de natureza qualitativa e quantitativa, embasou a construção do instrumento denominado Índice de Desempenho Ambiental da Gestão de Resíduos Sólidos Industriais (IDEA PNRS+L). Este se constitui de 26 indicadores e 23 índices, concebido na forma top-down soft decision tree. O cálculo dos índices, compostos de regras fuzzy, variáveis e suas inferências, incluiu a visão de um grupo de especialistas, em pesquisa de opinião, para ajustar os graus de influência das variáveis de cada índice. Nas simulações, testes e aplicação do instrumento em uma indústria para avaliar as suas potencialidades, o IDEA PNRS+L mostrou-se sensível, mesmo para pequenas variações dos dados de entrada, plausível e confiável, ao reproduzir o comportamento estabelecido em sua concepção. Os parâmetros alicerçadores que constituíram o corpo teórico, concluindo, foram assaz abrangentes e permitiram a construção do instrumento de avaliação de desempenho ambiental IDEA PNRS+L, considerado adequado para a arbitragem das organizações. Concomitantemente, foram recuperadas as normas, concepções de iniciativas governamentais e atitudes profissionais ambientalmente corretas apoiadas em conceitos vanguardistas de produtos e serviços. / This Thesis develops an instrument for evaluating environmental performance in management of industrial solid waste. The practices verification consider the industrial product life-cycle through indicators and indices based on the National Policy on Solid Waste parameters and related concepts such as reverse logistics, Cleaner Production and Ecodesign, and standards like ISO 14000 series such as environmental management systems, integrating environmental aspects in product design and development, environmental labels and Environmental Performance Evaluation. The central Thesis’ aim, that was to develop an environmental evaluating model, contains this panorama, which calls on a fuzzy modeling tool to assist organizations in making decisions. Two methodological research groups covered the dicussions and the instrument construction called Environmental Performance Index of Industrial Solid Waste Management (IDEA PNRS+L): qualitative and quantitative. This fuzzy modeling is composed of 26 indicators and 23 index, conceived in top- down soft decision tree form. The index calculation - composed of fuzzy rules, variables and their inferences - included a group of specialists respondents view, through a survey, to adjust the variables influence degrees of each index. In the simulations, testing and application of the created instrument in an industry to assess their potential, IDEA PNRS+L was sensitive even to small variations of the input data, plausible and reliable, to reproduce the behavior established in the initial configuration. Concluding, the fundamental parameters that formed the theoretical framework were quite comprehensive and allowed the construction of Environmental Performance Evaluation called IDEA PNRS+L, appropriated for industrial arbitration. Simultaneously, the rules, government initiatives concepts and accurated environmentally professional attitudes supported by avant-garde products and services concepts were recuperated.