Stay informed about the National Policy on Solid Waste

The National Solid Waste Policy is a law signed on August 2, 2010. This law aims to establish rules related to the management of solid waste, making it the responsibility of its generators. This policy has goals of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, so that waste receives an environmentally correct destination, aiming to eliminate and recover existing landfills.

The deadline for municipalities to comply with this law is four years, so by August 2, 2014, all Brazilian cities must have their Solid Waste Management Plans. However, research by IBGE shows that by 2013, 66.5% of Brazilian cities did not have an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan.

With less than 90 days left for this law to take effect, there are still over two thousand landfills receiving waste daily in Brazil. Studies conducted by Abrelpe (Brazilian Association of Public Cleaning and Special Waste) show that 40% of the garbage produced in Brazil does not have the correct destination.

Landfills do not have environmental treatment, thus, the decomposition of waste contaminates the soil and, consequently, the groundwater. In addition, garbage produces polluting gases and facilitates the reproduction of disease-carrying insects.

According to the Minister of the Environment, Izabella Teixeira, there is no intention by the federal government to postpone the deadline set for municipalities. According to the Minister, "Everyone keeps discussing what will happen if we don't end all landfills in Brazil by August 2. But since 1998, the Environmental Crimes Law already says that it is a crime to dispose of waste in inappropriate places."

The Ministry of the Environment does not have an exact count of the number of cities that have not yet adapted to this policy, but it is believed that the biggest bottleneck is in small cities, especially in the Northeast.