Integrated management of solid urban waste in the municipality of Belém, Pará, Brazil: advantages and challenges of its implementation

Abstract

This work aims to describe the management of urban solid waste (USW) in the city of Belém, Pará, Brazil, explaining the advantages and challenges of implementing integrated management. For this purpose, a bibliographic survey has been made in recent journals that address the subject, in addition to a documental analysis of the State Plan for the Integrated Management of Solid Waste in the State of Pará. In addition, semi-structured interviews were carried out between August and November 2018 with representatives of waste management at the state and municipal levels, seeking information on the form of management adopted and the difficulties faced, thus collecting primary and secondary data. The information gathered shows that the management of USW in Belém has flaws, since the municipality does not have an integrated management plan capable of aggregating relevant information for the formulation of programs and actions necessary to minimize the problems provided by high waste generation and its final disposal. The results presented are of great importance as they provide a more detailed discussion focused on waste management in Belém, reinforcing the requirements of the National Policy for Solid Waste as to the financial and environmentally sustainable way of carrying out such management.