Panorama da gestão e gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos na baixada maranhense: subsídios geográficos para a implementação de um consórcio público intermunicipal

Abstract

Solid waste is ubiquitous today and, as such, is a feature of every landscape. According to data from the Brazilian Association of Waste and the Environment (ABREMA) and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the volume of waste generated in Brazil is gradually increasing each year (between 0.4% and 1% annually), while Brazilian state and local governments, particularly in the North and Northeast regions, face difficulties in ensuring the implementation of the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) (Law No. 12,305/2010). In the Northeast, 56% (10.5 million metric tons) of waste is disposed of improperly, with open dumps being the primary disposal method. This is compounded by the lack of selective collection initiatives and programs, the integration of recyclable material collectors, and reverse logistics—all key components of the PNRS. This situation results in socio-environmental damage and places a heavy financial burden on public coffers. The policy appropriately highlights alternatives for overcoming this scenario through cooperation among municipalities, promoting the creation of intermunicipal public consortia; however, this requires recognition of the individual challenges faced by each entity in order for the recommended cooperation to take place. From this perspective, the general objective of this study is to present an overview of the current solid waste management model in the municipalities of the Baixada Maranhense and to provide geographical insights for the establishment of an intermunicipal solid waste consortium in accordance with the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS). The Baixada, which represents a unique treasure in the region—not only in Maranhão but also in the Northeast—features a landscape of low-lying terrain and vast floodplains resembling the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. It comprises 21 municipalities (with more than 500,000 inhabitants), with municipalities that are almost like islands in the midst of vast expanses of water, but only three municipalities have environmentally appropriate waste disposal facilities. To conduct this research, both indirect and direct documentation techniques were employed, with an emphasis on collecting primary and secondary data from ABREMA, the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS), municipal governments, and fieldwork, covering the period from 2007 to 2022. These data were analyzed and discussed in light of dialectical historical materialism. The results revealed the precarious nature of municipal structures dedicated to sanitation services and policies Fundamentally, there is a widespread problem of illegal solid waste dumping sites, coupled with a failure to provide data to the information systems that are essential for the implementation and development of public policies. This situation places strain on and directly impacts the environment, resulting in the contamination of the air, soil, and, above all, water—a matter of grave concern, given that the daily lives of local populations are intrinsically linked to water resources. It was also found that, although there is a certain degree of coordination among the region’s municipalities, political, economic, and technical obstacles stand in the way of achieving an environmentally sound solution aligned with the PNRS.