Aplicación de la metodología de análisis de ciclo de vida para evaluar el desempeño ambiental de sistemas de gestión de residuos en iberoamerica

La metodología de Análisis de Ciclo de Vida es la técnica más adecuada para evaluar el desempeño medioambiental de los sistemas de gestión de residuos sólidos. Durante los últimos años, se ha ido extendiendo su implementación en diferentes países iberoamericanos. Así pues, este artículo presenta cinco experiencias de aplicación de la metodología de Análisis de Ciclo de Vida para evaluar el comportamiento ambiental de: un sistema de recogida selectiva de residuos domiciliarios en España; un sistema de gestión de residuos de aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos y específicamente terminales de telefonía móvil en México; un sistema de gestión de residuos de construcción y demolición en Argentina; la incorporación de recogida selectiva en un sistema de gestión de residuos domiciliarios en Brasil; y finalmente, un sistema de gestión de residuos domiciliarios en Colombia. Para cada uno de los casos de aplicación se ha conformado un inventario, identificándose como principal hándicap, la falta de datos de inventario en bases de datos comerciales adaptados a diferentes países, a diferentes fracciones y a diferentes tratamientos de gestión de residuos. Para ello, para modelar los inventarios se ha realizado una combinación de datos primarios y secundarios. Finalmente, se ha obtenido la contribución al impacto de las diferentes etapas que conforman el ciclo de vida de cada sistema de gestión de residuos, sirviendo los resultados obtenidos como punto de partida para la selección e implantación de medidas que favorezcan la mejora ambiental de los sistemas de gestión de residuos.The Life Cycle Assessment methodology is the most appropriate technique for evaluating municipal solid waste management systems. In recent times, its implementation has been spreading in different Latin American countries. So, this paper presents five applications of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology with the aim of evaluating the environmental performance of: a selective collection system for household waste in Spain; a waste electrical and electronic equipment management system, mainly focused on mobile phone devices, in Mexico; a construction and demolition waste management system in Argentina; the incorporation of selective collection in a municipal solid waste management system in Brazil; and finally, a municipal solid waste management system for household in Colombia. For each case study it has been made an inventory, identifying as a main handicap, the lack of inventory data in commercial databases adapted to different countries, different factions and different treatments of waste management. To solve this problem, inventory modeling has been performed as a combination of primary and secondary data. Finally, the contribution to different impact categories of stage of each life cycle waste management system has been obtained. Results provide a starting point for the selection and implementation of measures to promote the environmental improvement of waste management systems.Los autores agradecen la posibilidad de realizar este trabajo conjunto entre diferentes países iberoamericanos a CYTED (Proyecto 715RT0494)

Assessing the social performance of municipal solid waste management systems in developing countries: Proposal of indicators and a case study

This article analyses the social performance of municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems in developing countries. For this purpose, a set of social impact categories, indicators and metrics capable of assessing the socio-economic and labour conditions of the different stakeholders involved in the life cycle of a MSW management system is proposed. Specifically, 12 social impact categories and 22 indicators with their corresponding metrics have been suggested. The application of the proposed indicators is illustrated by a case study in the districts of João Pessoa (Brazil), where selective MSW collection has been implemented with the collaboration of previous informal waste pickers, who have been reorganised into associations or cooperatives of collectors of recyclable materials (formal sector). The results suggest that despite the improvements made in the last decade in the current MSW management system of João Pessoa, there is still plenty of room for improvement. The social impact category with better performance is related to a “value chain actors relationship”, while “equal opportunities/discrimination” and “working benefits” show a high improvement potential

Life Cycle Assessment of Selective Paper and Cardboard Collection of in the Bessa Nucleus, municipality of João Pessoa/Paraíba, Brazil // Avaliação do ciclo de vida da coleta seletiva de papel e papelão no núcleo do Bessa, município de João Pessoa (PB), Brasil

Recognizing that paper and cardboard are the most common materials in Solid Household Waste (SHW) management, the objective of the study presented herein was to apply the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to the procedures associated with the selective collection of paper and cardboard in a nucleus in João Pessoa, Paraíba. LCA quantifies the environmental loads throughout the life cycle of an activity and is standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas — ABNT). LCA considered all the phases of SHW management: regular collection, selective collection, recycling, final disposal and intermediate transportation. The SimaPro software was used, with the Ecoinvent database and CML-IA baseline environmental assessment method, version 3.00/World 2000. In 2004, it was verified that selective collection included 11% of the SHW generated in the districts served by the sorting unit. The remainder (89%) was, in its majority, transported and destined for the Metropolitan Sanitary Landfill of João Pessoa. Interpretation of the LCA results for the different impact categories revealed that recycling brings positive environmental benefits when the atmospheric emissions associated with eutrophication, global warming and photochemical oxidation were considered. An overall negative value was obtained for these categories, due to recycling, in comparison with the other analyzed phases (selective collection, regular collection, consumption of energy in the sheds, sorting unit, transportation and landfilling). For atmospheric emissions associated with depletion of the ozone layer and acidification, negative emissions associated with recycling were not sufficient to produce an overall negative balance.Reconhecendo que o papel e o papelão são os materiais mais identificados na gestão dos resíduos sólidos domiciliares (RSD), o objetivo deste artigo foi aplicar a metodologia da Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) aos procedimentos de coleta seletiva desses materiais em um núcleo de João Pessoa (PB). A ACV quantifica as cargas ambientais ao longo do ciclo de vida de uma atividade e está normatizada pela International Organization for Standardization (ISO) e pela Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT). Essa avaliação considerou todas as fases do sistema de gestão dos RSD: coletas regular e seletiva, reciclagem, disposição final e transportes intermediários. Utilizou-se o software SimaPro, com a base de dados Ecoinvent, e o método de avaliação de impacto ambiental CML-IA baseline, versão 3.00/World 2000. Verificou-se que, em 2014, a coleta seletiva incluiu 11% dos RSD gerados nos distritos servidos pela unidade de triagem. O restante (89%) foi, em sua maioria, transportado e destinado ao Aterro Sanitário Metropolitano de João Pessoa. Interpretando os resultados da ACV para as diferentes categorias de impacto, verificou-se que a reciclagem traz grandes benefícios ambientais quando consideradas as emissões atmosféricas associadas à eutrofização, ao aquecimento global e à oxidação fotoquímica. Nesses casos, obteve-se um resultado geral negativo nas emissões, por causa da reciclagem, em comparação às outras etapas consideradas (coletas seletiva e regular, consumos de energia nos galpões, Central de Triagem — CT — , transportes e aterro sanitário). Para as emissões atmosféricas associadas à destruição da camada de ozônio e à acidificação, as emissões negativas relacionadas à reciclagem não foram suficientes para obter um balanço geral negativo

Influence of implementing selective collection on municipal waste management systems in developing countries: A Brazilian case study

The aim of this study is to analyse the evolution of the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system of João Pessoa (Brazil), which is one of the pioneering Brazilian cities to implement door-to-door selective collection programmes to study the effect of policy decisions in the last decade about selective collection. To this end, the present study includes the characterisation of the waste management system in this municipality from 2005 to 2015, and the analysis of the relation of these data with the socio-economic characteristics of the population in different city districts based on the data collected directly from the different stakeholders involved in the MSWM system. Our results are based on identifying the different socio-economic aspects that may influence the success of implementing recyclable waste selective collection programmes. This study also highlights the great deal of room for improvement in the selective collected waste ratio in João Pessoa as, in 2015, only 1.5% of generated recyclable waste was selectively collected. Spreading and improving awareness-raising campaigns throughout the city are key aspects that can improve this ratio, and the standardisation of registering information on the MSWM system is a basic issue to measure the system and to facilitate the undertaking of future analyses