The waste collection history in Novo Hamburgo, RS and a proposal for a new route using geographical information system

Abstract

The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) increasing in the world is a direct consequence of population and consumption growth. Each year more and more MSW is generated, which needs to be correctly collected and transported. This MSW management stage addresses the collection and transportation of waste from cities to a landfill and is one of the steps that most damage the environment through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study made a historical analysis of the MSW management in the Novo Hamburgo city located in the Rio Grande do Sul state and proposed a new route for MSW collection vehicle trucks using different scenarios. For this, the Network Analyst tool was used within a Geographic Information System software to identify the most efficient routes for MSW collecting vehicles. Based on this information, the financial costs and GHG emissions to carry out the MSW collection were estimated. The results showed that to mitigate the gases emitted by MSW collection trucks in one year, it would be necessary to plant more than 285 thousand Atlantic Forest native trees accordingly to the routing scenario choose, this gives an average area equivalent to 15,900 soccer fields, without taking into account the transportation of this MSW to the Minas do Leão landfill, which is located more than 100 km away from the Nova Hamburgo center and would considerably increase this value. Therefore, the MSW management historical analysis and the definition of more efficient MSW collection routes will bring to the city better public cleaning services and environmental impacts mitigation.