Only half of Brazil's municipalities prepared for solid waste law

While Brazil's solid waste law seeks to get rid of all open air dumps in the country by August, only about half of the nation's municipalities are prepared to accomplish this, according to the CEO of local waste management group Ecopav, Jacques Mari.  

BNamericas spoke with the executive about the challenges and techniques, and the overall outlook for solid waste management in the country.

BNamericas: How has Brazil's solid waste law affected Ecopav's business?

Mari: First of all, let's keep in mind that approximately 48% of municipalities are still unprepared for the law's requirement of eradicating all landfills by this August. Regardless, stricter legislation and better transparency in environmental policy has increased demand for our services lately.

Some of the factors influencing demand are government social programs that have increased the consumer power of the lower class and the search for more sustainable solutions by companies.

BNamericas: What are some of the largest challenges the company faces?

Mari: One major challenge is just being able to handle the numerous types of environmental solutions requested.

Although landfills are recommended by the environment ministry as the solution most adopted by both the private and public sectors for the final destination of solid waste, other less environmentally impacting solutions are sought after. Among them is the use of bio-digesters, gasifiers, incinerators and waste-to-energy treatment systems, among others.

BNamericas: What techniques does the company use in its landfill operations?

Mari: For smaller dumps, we just remove the waste. For larger dumps we encapsulate. By this I mean coating the waste deposited in landfills with a geo-membrane to avoid the spread of leachate and greenhouse gases into the environment.

To support, national solid waste plan PNRS has established financing for municipal environmental adequacy projects aimed at closing or restoring degraded areas.

BNamericas: Do you believe all open air dumps will be eliminated by the stipulated deadline?

Mari: Although eradication plans are underway, I don't believe 100% of them will be eliminated. We're expecting the federal government to permit extensions where new deadlines will be granted on a case-by-case basis.

BNamericas: The federal government's national sanitation plan Plansab is calling for 508bn reais [some US$220bn] in investments from 2014 -33. Do you believe Brazil will be able to carry out these investments?

Mari: Due to the country's deficit as well as differences and a lack of cooperation between federal and local governments, the release of funds for Plansab works has been slow to get off the ground.

Thus, the federal government's solution is to use models similar to the airport industry such as concessions through privatization or public-private partnerships. Some PPPs have already been formalized and are working very well, and I expect the trend to continue.

BNamericas: Is the company still considering electronic waste services as it did in 2011?

Mari: The group has repositioned itself in the market since then. Ecopav has reevaluated its business plan and has opted to concentrate on the overall study of alternative technologies for the disposal of solid waste, other than landfills.

BNamericas: How do you see investments in the company's area of expertise in 2014. Will they be affected by the election year?

Mari: In light of political difficulties, carrying out infrastructure works for basic sanitation, airport, ports, and roadworks has actually been a priority for the federal government.

I expect work to accelerate this election year and see the public sector providing more opportunities for the private sector so that it can speed up investments.