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By: Ben Matthews Summary: Waste production and management is an increasing large issue in many urban areas around the world. For example, Brazilian communities collect over 216,000 tons of trash every day. A large portion of that trash ends up in unsanitary landfills which fail to protect the surrounding soil and groundwater. Another consequence of open landfills is methane emissions, a greenhouse gas generated by decomposing trash which contributes to global warming. These open dump sites can also place nearby community members at risk for disease. Brazil’s solid waste is estimated to generate the equivalent of over 47 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. Carbon financing can help improve Brazil’s waste management by incentivizing landfill improvements. Landfill operators must agree to specific requirements involving a yearly reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Each milestone achieved is rewarded with a payment through the program, and under-performing could result in an interest rate increase. Methods used to reduce emissions are improved infrastructure and treatment of methane gas. The World Bank partnered with CAIXA, one of Brazil’s largest public banks, to create a program that improves the country’s carbon finance by connecting landfill improvements and emission reductions to financial investment. This has incentivized the improvement of landfills in Brazil which has a positive result for the environment and local communities. These landfills can also take the extra step of generating electricity from collected methane. With the possibility of turning trash emissions into electricity, it makes landfill investment much more appealing. Investing in landfills can help maintain environmental stability with the bonus production of electricity. Why we should care? Mismanaged waste can harm the environment and its inhabitants. Methane emissions contribute to global warming. Investment in landfills helps maintain environmental stability and has the bonus of electricity generation.  Photo Credit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/09/10/with-carbon-finance-brazil-landfills-reduce-methane-emissions-and-turn-trash-into-treasure Example Article. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/09/10/with-carbon-finance-brazil-landfills-reduce-methane-emissions-and-turn-trash-into-treasure It blew my mind to see how much waste is produced on a regular basis. And how a large portion of that waste is not properly managed, causing threats to the environment and people. The World Bank, an international development organization, works to improve economies and the standard of living of the people in the participating countries. I love the fact that by investing in landfills you can also help the environment and the locals. And introducing advancements in technology to better understand the field is fascinating. These sorts of innovative partnerships and solutions are what will lead us into a cleaner future. Science in Action.
Antonis Mavropoulos is President/Chair of the International Solid Waste Association. Antonis Mavropoulos acts as the president of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and has been in the waste management sector for over 20 years. He has participated in writing several books and scientific publications and worked on more than 150 projects in 20 countries. He is also the founder and CEO of D-Waste, a waste management consulting company with the goals of easy access and cost-effectiveness. It’s people like Antonis who innovate to provide better solutions who will bring us to a cleaner future. Some of his most recent research deals with globalization, megacities, mobile apps and the internet of things.
8 Comments
Hunter Cook
11/19/2020 15:48:02
This picture disgusts me in so many ways; it's as if I can smell it through my computer screen. It's great that the World Bank and CAIXA are working together in order to get this horrific problem under control, but the amount of damage that has been done so far is more than likely irreversible: soil damage, people and animals infected, polluted water, etc. It's really quite sad that the only language many corporations speak is one that involves them becoming wealthier by turning the methane into electricity and profiting from that.
Jenna Steele
11/20/2020 16:57:10
Hi Ben! This was a super informative blog post. I remember talking about and writing on the methane emissions coming from the Amazon in Brazil last year in an English course. This blog post only adds to my growing concerns for Brazil and the way that they have been handling their land and waste management. I agree completely with Hunter, the picture is gross, almost enough so to make me not want to look at it longer than a few seconds. To me it's insane that Brazilians contribute to the growth of landfills by 210,000 tons of trash in a single day!! But this is a great sign that they are implementing some type of program to reduce their environmental impact.
Molly McKeon
11/21/2020 22:09:38
My close friend lived in Rio De Janeiro for 20 years of his life. When I asked him what it was like in Brazil, he said that it was a dirty place. People didn't care enough to properly dispose of their trash and sometimes the streets could get pretty bad, especially in the ghettos. He said as he got older it got a bit better, but you could tell people stuck with habits and sometimes just didn't care.
Sophia Price
11/24/2020 09:37:54
This post made me think about the drive to visit my family. They live in a smaller farming community, on the way to their home there are fields for miles. All you see are small farm homes placed in the center of large plots of land. Until we reach the landfill, about 10 miles from their home. I remember driving by it when I was younger as my brother and I held our breath because of the aggressive scent radiating from the landfill. It always felt dirty driving past it, as we would see flocks of seagulls gathering around the top. As you said in your post about being shocked by the amount of waste that people produce. This was my eye opening experience of what we as humans are really doing to the environment with our waste products. Another thing that I remember about this landfill was seeing the flares at the base and wondering what they were. This post made me think and look into what the flares do. The flares work to release and destroy landfill gasses, this raised another question in my mind about other potential solutions to landfill gasses like; What can we do with them? Unfortunately, I read that burning these gasses as energy sources causes more pollution than just flaring the gas. In a study conducted by the EPA, the organization recommended that we use traditional alternative energy sources like solar and wind power opposed to an energy source like burning landfill gasses and causing additional pollution to create energy.
ARPITA PATEL
11/26/2020 11:40:44
Managing land waste is super crucial to the environmental health. When you said that there is 210,000 ton of trash in one day, that to me is just insane. That much trash produced emitting methane gas into the atmosphere. Although methane is good for the environment since it warms it up however, too much of it can also cause damage. It is good to see that the country is taking steps to reduce the waste being produced.
NIL AKBARI
11/29/2020 10:35:20
Producing large amounts of trash can be very toxic to the environment especially what too much of methane can do. At 210,000 ton of trash per day is just insane. Methane can heat up the environment which can be bad for global warming. However, its nice to see that the government is taking steps to reduce the tonnage of garbage produced per day.
Ella F
12/4/2020 10:51:32
Hi Ben,
Connor Edelstein
12/12/2020 16:27:15
The idea of incentivizing seems to serve a critical role in making environmentally friendly alternatives to currently in place infrastructure and services. I think the primary reason people/governments do not often do environmentally friendly things is because it is easier, and less expensive to continue using traditional methods. I’m glad that these incentives are being established because it seems to be contributing to the increased amount of environmentally friendly alternatives such as using reducing emissions from landfills, perpetual/renewable energy sources, etc. Leave a Reply. |
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