Municipal Solid Waste Management: Public Consortia as an Alternative Scale-Efficient? Lessons from the Brazilian Experience

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges facing modern society is solving excessive generation and the environmentally safe disposal of solid waste. In this context, effective management of municipal waste is required, but local authorities in many countries are constrained by limited finances and inadequate services. The decisions in the area of municipal solid waste management are not only capital intensive, but also tough from the environmental and social points of view. There is a need to develop and implement a simple, but reliable tool that will help mayors in this process. In this paper, we analyze Public Consortia of Municipalities, a basic instrument of the National Policy for Solid Waste of Brazil, a country with more than 5000 municipalities. Public Consortia is expected to reduce costs due to economies of scale and smaller demand for land. This study identifies the characteristics of Public Consortia, its advantages and disadvantages for urban solid waste management based upon the analysis of 29 Public Consortia in the Northeast, Southeast and South regions of Brazil. Through gathering of information and empirical data our analysis reveals challenges that are not being addressed and that impact in both, the formation of Public Consortia, as well as the urban solid waste management alternatives.