This research analyzed environmental and economic factors associated with municipal solid waste (MSW) management of select high growth Planning District Commissions (PDCs) of Virginia. Current MSW management scenarios were compared to future hypothetical scenarios utilizing a regional landfill or waste-to-energy (WTE) combustion facility. Life-cycle inventory and full cost accounting methods of the Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool, developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), were utilized to estimate annualized environmental emissions and economic costs. Model results and analysis indicate that a regional landfill would be the least cost intensive MSW management strategy in comparison to current management methods; however present the greatest environmental burden with respect to methane emissions. It was also inferred that a WTE facility would represent the least environmental burden with respect to energy offsets via MSW combustion while being the most cost intensive option. The study supports the anecdotal view that a regional-based approach to MSW management of high-growth PDCs would help reduce costs and potential environmental impacts.

Cette étude vise à étudier l'effet de la composition de substrats organiques solides sur les performances de production d'hydrogène, les voies métaboliques associées et les changements des communautés microbiennes dans un réacteur discontinu (sCSTR). L'hydrogène est un vecteur énergétique idéal qui a gagné en intérêt scientifique au cours de la dernière décennie. L'H2 produit par voie biologique, ou biohydrogène, peut être produit par des procédés de fermentation sombre où les déchets organiques sont traités et avec la production de molécules à haute valeur ajoutée. Cependant, l'effet de la composition des déchets organiques solides sur la production de biohydrogène dans la fermentation sombre n'a pas encore été clairement élucidé. Au cours de cette étude, une revue bibliographique a été réalisée sur la production d'hydrogène à partir de déchets agricoles. Cette revue montre qu'une large gamme de performances en hydrogène peut être observée principalement en raison de la variabilité dans les compositions en même type de substrats et des conditions expérimentales appliquées. Après avoir optimisé un protocole de test de potentiel biohydrogène (BHP), une grande variété de substrats organiques solides visant à couvrir un grand panel de déchets a été testée pour fournir des données comparables à analyser. Les résultats d'une régression PLS ont montré que seuls les sucres solubles ou facilement disponibles éteint corrélaient avec la production d'hydrogène. En outre, les rendements d'hydrogène corrélaient aussi bien avec l'accumulation de butyrate, principale voie productrice de bioH2. Un modèle prédictif du rendement en hydrogène en fonction de la teneur en sucres a été proposé. Ensuite, des expériences ont été menées en réacteur semi-continu (sCSTR) avec le topinambour comme substrat solide. Il a été montré qu'une faible charge organique favorisait une production continue d'hydrogène tandis que l'accroissement de la charge organique introduisait la présence de voies concurrentes à la production d'hydrogène. De plus, les profils des empreintes moléculaires basées sur l'ADNr 16s ont montré que l'augmentation de la charge organique avait un impact significatif sur la diversité microbienne en favorisant l'implantation de microorganismes ne produisant pas d'hydrogène tels que des bactéries lactiques. / This study aims to investigate the effect of solid substrates composition on hydrogen production performances, metabolic pathways and microbial community changes in batch reactor and their dynamics in semi continuous reactors (sCSTR). Hydrogen is an ideal energy carrier which has gained scientific interest over the past decade. Biological H2, so-called biohydrogen, can especially be produced by dark fermentation processes concomitantly with value-added molecules (i.e. metabolic end-products), while organic waste is treated. However, the effect of solid organic waste composition on biohydrogen production in dark fermentation has not yet been clearly elucidated. In this study, a bibliographic review was made on hydrogen production from agricultural waste. This survey on literature showed that diverse performances were reported on hydrogen production due to the variability in substrate compositions and experimental conditions. After having optimized a protocol of biohydrogen potential test (BHP), a wide variety of organic solid substrates aiming to covering a large range of solid waste was tested to provide a comparable data analysis. The results of a PLS regression showed that only soluble carbohydrates or easily available carbohydrates correlated with hydrogen production. Furthermore, hydrogen yields correlated as well with butyrate H2-producing pathway which is consistent with the literature knowledge. A predictive model of hydrogen yield according to carbohydrate content was proposed. Then, experiments were carried out in sCSTR with Jerusalem artichoke tubers as a case study. It was shown that low organic loading rate favored continuous hydrogen production while higher organic loading introduced hydrogen competition pathways and decreased the overall hydrogen yields. Moereover, 16S rRNA gene based CE-SSCP profiles showed that increasing OLR had a significant effect on the microbial diversity by favoring the implementation of microorganisms not producing hydrogen, i.e. lactic acid bacteria.

Sur la base d'investigations empiriques dans deux villes ordinaires de pays émergents –Vitória au Brésil et Coimbatore en Inde- nous expliquons pourquoi la gestion des déchets municipaux au Sud ne peut pas exclure les acteurs dits « informels » sous peine d'aboutir à des fiascos. Ce constat est désormais unanimement reconnu, sans qu'en soient pour autant explicitées les raisons. Nous partons de l'observation empirique de conflits d'appropriation, qui apparaissent lors de l'introduction de schémas municipaux de collecte sélective et transcendent la dichotomie entre gros opérateurs privés et petits wastepickers. Ces heurts nous amènent à formuler la question centrale suivante : à qui appartiennent les déchets, res derelictae, objets précisément définis par leur abandon ? C'est ici que réside l'apport de notre recherche : en confrontant la théorie économique à une approche d'aménagement urbain, nous démontrons que le gisement de déchets urbains correspond à un bien (ou un ‘mal') public impur : rival, mais non excluable. Cette caractéristique est due autant aux ruptures de charge du service d'évacuation, qu'à la valeur marchande d'un nombre croissant de matériaux -à condition qu'ils soient captés à la source. Enfin, en abordant la question à une échelle plus macro, nous affirmons que le négoce local de revente des déchets secs est directement influencé par les cours des matières premières vierges, ou secondaires (lorsque de tels marchés existent). Cette prégnance de l'économie globale sur un service urbain local permet de repérer des stratégies émergentes d'extraction minière urbaine qui aboutissent à poser avec une acuité renouvelée la question de la légitimité des appropriations / Grounded on empirical investigations in two ordinary cities of emerging countries – Vitória in Brazil and Coimbatore in India – we argue that solid waste management in Southern cities cannot be conceived excluding the so-called “informal” actors at the risk of fiasco. Such an assessment is nowadays broadly acknowledged, yet its reasons are not always made explicit. We start from the empirical observation of appropriation conflicts, which arise with the introduction of municipal selective collection schemes and which transcend the “Big private operator versus small wastepickers” dichotomy. These clashes lead us to formulate the following central question: to whom do solid wastes –this res derelictae- belong to, taking into account that their very definition lies in abandonment. That is what our research aims at: confronting economic theory to an urban planning approach we show that the urban solid waste deposit corresponds to an impure public good (or evil!), a blurred object characterized by rivalry and non-exclusion. This is particularly due to transhipments in the evacuation service, as well as to the commodity value of a growing number of items – on condition that they should be recovered at source. Finally, taking a zoom-out in order to apprehend this issue through a global lens, we argue that the local dry waste sales business is directly determined by raw material prices fluctuations. The global economy impact on a local urban service leads us to acknowledge urban mining strategies which renew the appropriations' legitimacy question

This thesis deals with the market for secondary raw materials. First, basic terms are explained together with the close analysis of different interpretation of the term "waste" and "secondary raw material", next "recycling". Then general principles of the functioning of markets are applied to the issue of secondary raw materials. It is discussed if theoretical knowledges described below follow the reality of markets in which commodities produced from the solid waste are traded. After that structure of the market is analysed from the mikroeconomic perspective. The objective of the qualitative research was to determine the impacts of the crises on the regional market.

Os catadores de materiais recicláveis, cuja profissão é reconhecida pelo Ministério do Trabalho desde 2002, têm a necessidade de assegurar a sua própria sobrevivência bem como a dos seus familiares. Os Determinantes Sociais da Saúde (DSS) buscam analisar as condições econômicas e sociais que afetam a saúde. Os DSS envolvem cinco níveis superpostos: comportamento e estilo de vida; redes sociais e comunitárias; condições de vida e trabalho, macrodeterminantes e condições de saúde. Todos influenciam na ocorrência de problemas de saúde e nos fatores de risco da população. O objetivo deste trabalho é caracterizar os Determinantes Sociais da Saúde dos catadores de materiais recicláveis, através da análise de dados secundários obtidos no Sistema Único de Assistência Social-SUAS e delimitados geograficamente ao município de Serrana. A população de catadores de material reciclado revelou uma prevalência acentuada de homens com idade média de 40 anos, a maioria solteiros e autodeclarados como pardos. Dentro da avaliação dos DSS, 93,75% dos indivíduos declaram não praticar esportes, 75% são fumantes, não possuem acesso à TV e internet e 69% são analfabetos. Por outro lado, os indivíduos possuem moradias dignas com infraestrutura de água e esgoto. As condições de saúde desses indivíduos também foram analisadas e uma parcela apresentou alterações em exames de sangue, como: colesterol (37,5%), glicemia (12,5%) e nível de plaquetas (6,25%). Outra variável analisada foi o ambiente de trabalho, com 37,5% de notificações de algum tipo de acidente, como corte de mão, braço ou pé durante a coleta de lixo. Concluímos que avaliar esses fatores é importante para identificar os riscos que o grupo de catadores de materiais recicláveis é exposto e compreender a intervenção sobre os mecanismos de estratificação social. Os DSS são ferramentas importantes para que a gestão pública conheça a realidade dos catadores de recicláveis e consiga apresentar políticas públicas eficazes, melhorando, assim, a qualidade de vida dessas pessoas extremamente vulneráveis e de função social importante, pois são essenciais à conservação do território e na redução da quantidade de resíduos / Waste recyclers, whose profession has been recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor since 2002, have a need to ensure their own survival, as well as their family members\' maintenance. Social Determinants of Health (SDHs) are used to analyze economic and social conditions affecting a population\'s health. SDHs consist of five superimposed levels: behavior and lifestyle, social and community networks, life and work conditions, macrodeterminants, and health conditions. All of them have a relationship with health problems and risk factors in a population. This study aimed to characterize the SDHs of recyclable waste collectors living in the city of Serrana - SP (Brazil), through secondary data taken from the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS). This group consisted mainly of men with a mean age of 40 years, most of whom were single and self-reported as brown or \'pardo\' (a mixture of white, black, and Amerindian races). Results of the SDH assessment showed that 93.75% of the individuals reported not playing sports; 75% declared being smokers, not having TV and internet access; and 69% were illiterate. However, these individuals live in decent housing with water and sewage infrastructure. The health conditions of these workers were also analyzed, and blood examination revealed alterations in the levels of cholesterol (37.5%), blood glucose (12.5%), and platelets (6.25%). We also assessed the work environment and noted that work accidents such as hand, arm, or foot cutting during waste collection represented 37.5% of the cases. Thus, we conclude that these factors are important to identify risks to which recyclable waste pickers are exposed, as well as to understand social stratification mechanisms. In short, SDHs are of paramount importance for public administrators to know the reality of recyclable waste collectors and elaborate effective public policies to improve their quality of life, since they are extremely vulnerable people and play a major social role contributing to the environmental conservation and waste reduction

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Geography). Johannesburg, 11 June 2017. / Reclaimer integration in South Africa has been identified as a priority, but how to integrate reclaimers remains a challenge. Crucially, there is not yet a coherent approach or a clear understanding of what reclaimer integration means in South Africa, let alone whether this same understanding of integration is shared by the reclaimers who are being integrated. By focusing on the integration initiatives of the Environment and Infrastructure Services Department (EISD) and Pikitup, this thesis conducts a comparative study of two reclaimer integration projects in Johannesburg. It investigates the breakdown and mismatch of understandings between social actors who do not share the same view of integration and implications thereof. In doing so, it contributes to discourse on the transformation of Johannesburg’s waste management system. Social constructivism theory by Berger and Luckmann (1966) provides the theoretical grounding for this dissertation by exploring how different milieus and experiences shape people’s understanding of realities. Findings illustrate that there is no clear conceptualisation of integration that underpins waste management policy. Drawing on social constructivism theory, the paper concludes that integration is a socially constructed and contested concept. Essentially, there are inconsistent understandings of integration among different groups of reclaimers as well as officials. For that reason, integration programmes created a new form of exclusion and imposed negative effects on reclaimers. KEYWORDS: Integration, Reclaimers, Waste, Policy, Recycling, cooperatives / LG2018

RESUMO CARDOSO, Marco Tsuyama. Regulação em Aproveitamento Energético de Resíduos: proposições para o Brasil com base no estudo de caso Sueco, 2019, 219p. Tese de Doutorado, Programa de Pós-Graduação de Energia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil. A Suécia alcançou níveis de excelência tanto na reciclagem quanto na recuperação energética de resíduos. De cada 100% de resíduos sólidos gerados no país, apenas 1% não são aproveitados, tendo como destino final o aterramento. Os demais 99% são utilizados tanto na reciclagem quanto na geração de energia. Esse desempenho reflete-se também na descarbonização bem-sucedida da sua economia que, de 1990 a 2016, cresceu 75%, enquanto suas emissões caíram 26% no mesmo período. Essas foram as razões pelas quais a Suécia foi tomada como paradigma de excelência para a presente tese, cujo objetivo consistiu em identificar fatores de sucesso que pudessem inspirar a evolução da regulação e das políticas públicas voltadas ao aproveitamento dos resíduos sólidos urbanos no Brasil. As visitas técnicas a nove plantas de recuperação energética por incineração e seis plantas de digestão anaeróbica suecas e as entrevistas com especialistas do país forneceram clara dimensão do estágio dessas tecnologias e das diferenças culturais, econômicas e regulatórias com relação ao Brasil. A partir das informações empíricas obtidas in situ e do respaldo da análise da literatura pertinente ao tema, foram identificados 15 fatores de sucesso destacados neste trabalho. Tais fatores foram usados para verificar sua potencial replicabilidade no Brasil. Dentre eles, os que mais se destacaram foram: (i) a abordagem integrada das políticas voltadas ao aproveitamento dos resíduos; (ii) o potencial de associação entre a atividade de reciclagem e de recuperação energética, muitas vezes vistas como atividades não-integráveis; e (iii) a utilização de instrumentos econômicos, como impostos e taxas, para desincentivar ações que causem prejuízo à sociedade. As lições aqui identificadas a partir do exemplo sueco representam uma inovação para o Brasil. Ademais, elas podem ser úteis a tomadores de decisão na formulação de uma estratégia de abordagem no sentido de melhorar o desempenho brasileiro, tanto na destinação adequada dos resíduos sólidos urbanos, como na sua utilização para gerar energia num contexto de descarbonização da economia. Palavras-chave: Resíduos Sólidos Urbanos. Planejamento Energético. Regulação. Energia Renovável. Biomassa. Brasil. Suécia. / Sweden has reached prominent figures both in recycling and energy recovering from residues. Less than 1 percent of its municipal solid waste is landfilled, and the other 99 percent is harnessed by either recycling or producing energy. This performance has been also reflected in its economy decarbonization rate: as noticed, the countrys GDP raised 75% while its emission decreased 26% during the period 1990-2016. This is why the Sweden was chosen as benchmark in this thesis, which main objective was to identify key success factors that could inspire better practices in regulation and public policies regarding the energy and material recovering from municipal solid waste in Brazil. To achieve this objective, 9 incineration plants and 6 anaerobic digestion facilities were visited. Additionally, several Sweden experts were interviewed. Those visits and interviews delivered a clear outlook of the stage of excellence of Sweden regarding not only the technologies applied to energy recovery from waste, but also outlined the cultural, economic and regulatory differences between Sweden and Brazil. Nonetheless, supported by the pertinent literature along with the in situ empirical observations, 15 success factors were outlined. Additionally, those success factors were analyzed to check their potential applicability to Brazil. Among them, three were highlighted: (i) the integrated policy approach; (ii) the recycling and energy recovery from waste integration; and (iii) the use of economic instruments (such as taxes and tariffs) in order to discourage practices that negatively impact the whole society. The lessons learned from the Swedish example are novelty to Brazil. These lessons can also be useful to decision and opinion makers to advocate actions and formulate strategies that can contribute to improve the Brazilian performance regarding proper waste destination in the economy decarbonization.

Recentemente passou a ser aceito por amplos segmentos da sociedade as conclusões de cientistas de que o homem vem provocando a mudança climática global em curso por meio da emissão de gases de efeito estufa. E espera-se, se nada for feito, por um agravamento do aquecimento global, em função do aumento da população mundial e do desenvolvimento econômico, para os próximos anos. O resíduo gerado pela sociedade, quando em decomposição, é forte emissor de metano, um dos gases mais maléficos nesse processo. Organismos internacionais liderados pela ONU participam do esforço de limitar as emissões com a negociação de créditos de carbono do Protocolo de Kyoto, o que pode contribuir para viabilizar a adoção de novas tecnologias de tratamento de resíduos. Esta pesquisa traz aos gestores municipais, e aos empreendedores do setor, um modelo de decisão para escolha estratégica das tecnologias mais recentes para tratamento de resíduos sólidos urbanos. Usando a técnica de abordagem sistêmica (system analysis), com o apoio da teoria de ciclo de vida do produto e do conceito de eco-eficiência, foram traçadas tendências. O modelo de decisão usou a técnica do pensamento focado no valor (Value-Focused Thinking) pertencente à teoria da decisão multiatributo. A partir da percepção de importantes formadores de opinião, aponta-se que as tecnologias de aterro sanitário, incineração e de processamento por plasma térmico, acompanhadas da coleta seletiva, da recuperação energética, da separação e da reciclagem, têm cada uma importante parcela de contribuição na solução do problema ambiental. Também é apontado que a combinação da coleta seletiva, seleção do lixo para aumento do seu potencial energético, processamento por plasma térmico acompanhado da geração de energia, é a mais efetiva para ser adotada num município de porte médio do Estado de São Paulo, para os próximos vinte anos. Ao final da pesquisa, as soluções estudadas foram apresentadas a gestores públicos para validação do modelo. / Recently it became accepted, by large segments of society, the conclusions of several scientists that man has been causing a global climatic change through the emission of greenhouse gases. If nothing is done, an increase in global warmth is expected in the years to come, due to the growth of world population as well as economic growth. The waste generated by society, while decomposing, is a strong methane emitter, one of the gases that contribute the most to the global warmth. International organisms, led by UN, have joint efforts in order to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases with the negotiation of carbon credits, mechanism created by the Kyoto Protocol, which may turn the adoption of new technologies of waste treatment economically feasible. This research brings to the public managers and entrepreneurs of this sector a decision-making model to strategically choose the most recent technologies for the treatment of municipal solid waste. Using the system analysis technique, supported by product?s life cycle theory and the concept of eco-efficiency, some tendencies of this sector have been mapped. The decision-making model uses the Value-Focused Thinking technique, which belongs to the multi-attribute decision theory. From of the gathering opinions of important stakeholders, some technologies may be pointed as the most important contributors to solving this environmental problem: landfill technologies, incineration and plasma process, accompanied also by energy recovery, waste sorting and recycling. It is also suggested that a solution of waste sorting, a process of generating refused derived fuel, and plasma process followed by energy recovery is the more effective combination to be adopted by a medium-size city in the near future. At the end of the research works, the studied solutions were presented to public managers to validate the model.

O gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos municipais não vem contemplando adequadamente a multidimensionalidade da realidade urbana num mundo globalizado e pouco tem auxiliado na necessária transformação dos padrões de consumo nas comunidades locais. Face a incerteza inerente dos sistemas sociais, a complexidade vem sendo, progressivamente, reconhecida como a expressão paradigmática dessa realidade. Neste trabalho, desenvolve-se o conceito de sistema de resíduos sólidos sob a perspectiva de um sistema complexo, assim como caracteriza-se a dinâmica das suas interações. A partir dessa concepção teórica, discute-se a busca da sustentabilidade por meio do gerenciamento de resíduos e as formas de complexificar a sua metodologia de atuação, na qual a cobrança da coleta de resíduos domiciliares é identificada como um importante instrumento neste processo. Propõe-se um modelo de cobrança desses serviços cuja viabilidade é verificada na simulação feita para o município de Santo André-SP. Levanta-se, ainda, dados sobre as formas de cobrança existentes em diversos municípios e a situação dos serviços de limpeza urbana no Brasil. Conclui-se que o gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos deve ser executado no âmbito de uma política pública local para o setor e que o modelo de cobrança proposto tem maior aplicabilidade em cidades de médio a grande porte. / Municipal solid waste management does not give appropriate consideration to the urban multidimensional reality in a globalized world and it has not promoted the necessary change of consumer standards in the local community. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the social systems, the complexity has been progressively recognized as a paradigmatic expression of this reality. In this study the concept of solid waste system is explained in the perspective of a complex system and how to characterize the dynamics of its interactions. From this theoretical standing the search for sustainability through solid waste management and the way to improve the complexity of its methodology is discussed wherein the household waste collection tax is identified as an important tool. A model for a waste collection tax is proposed the feasibility of which is validated by a simulation applied in Santo Andre city. Data on waste collection tax was acquired from several municipal districts and they represent the situation of the urban cleaning services in Brazil. Conclusions state that solid waste management should be carried out in the context of local public policies for this sector and that the proposed model for waste collection tax presents high feasibility for medium and large cities.

O objetivo deste estudo é apontar o eletrodoméstico da linha branca que provavelmente pode sofrer reprocesso mais facilmente quando atinge seu efetivo fim do ciclo de vida útil, por ser julgado prioritário entre as variáveis de um canal de distribuição reverso. Para tanto, utilizou-se os conceitos da logística reversa juntamente com a aplicação do Método de Análise Hierárquica, modelo multicritério que deriva uma escala de prioridades a partir do julgamento subjetivo de especialistas. O estudo justifica-se pela necessidade de evitar que uma disposição final inadequada ocorra, devendo os bens de pós-consumo duráveis, categoria à qual os eletrodomésticos da linha branca pertencem, serem reintroduzidos na cadeia produtiva, para que os mesmos não resultem em resíduos sólidos descartados no meio ambiente e os recursos naturais sejam poupados. O método consiste na formulação e aplicação do Método de Análise Hierárquica a vinte especialistas de diferentes áreas. No processo de aplicação considerou-se a consistência dos julgamentos, para que o resultado final obtido se aproximasse ao máximo de uma situação real. Após tratamento dos dados, verificou-se que o refrigerador foi considerado o eletrodoméstico da linha branca prioritário para retornar aos locais de reprocesso através do canal de distribuição reverso, atingindo 70% da preferência nos vinte julgamentos, ou seja, o refrigerador foi a alternativa de decisão julgada prioritária por 14 especialistas. O resultado da análise conjunta apontou que o refrigerador obteve importância de 37,07%, seguido por microondas com importância de 23,73%, lavadora de roupas com importância de 21,37% e fogão com importância de 17,83%. / The aim of this study is to point the white line appliance that can easier undergo reprocessing when it reaches the end of its effective life cycle, by the priority among the variables of a reverse distribution channel. We used the concepts of reverse logistics with the Analytic Hierarchy Process, multicriteria model that derives a range of priorities from the subjective judgments of specialists. The study is justified by the avoidance of the improper final disposal of these kind of products, and the assets of post-consumer durable category that white goods belong to be reintroduced in the production chain, so that they do not result in solid waste discard in the environment and the natural resources are spared. The method consists by the formulation and application of Analytic Hierarchy Process to twenty specialists from different areas. During the implementation process the consistency of judgments were considered so that the final result would be closer to a real situation. After processing, it was found that the refrigerator was the priority appliance to return to reprocessing sites through reverse distribution channel, reaching 70% preference in the twenty trials, i.e., the refrigerator was the alternative priority decision judged by fourteen experts. The result of the combined analysis showed that the refrigerator achieved importance of 37.07%, followed by microwave importance of 23.73%, washing machines with the importance of 21.37% and the stove with importance of 17.83%.