Dissertação
Resíduos e espaço urbano: o metabolismo dos resíduos sólidos urbanos na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte
Fecha
2020-05-29Autor
Beatrice Correa de Oliveira
Institución
Resumen
This dissertation studies the material and representative aspects of the municipal solid
waste (MSW) metabolism in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH). Based on
the understanding that the MSW is a geographic, social, historical and spatially constructed
object, therefore, relevant to the comprehension of the relationship between man and space, this
work sought, through bibliographic research, to analyze the different understandings about
solid waste and make a historic recovery on the solid waste management guidelines in cities.
The theoretical-methodological approach of urban political ecology provided the conceptual
keys for the analysis and helped to understand the contours of the society-nature dynamics
within the metropolises. The work turned to the case study of MRBH, based on the historical
survey of the policies, plans and dynamics of the metropolitan region in relation to MSW, and
on the identification of paradigms, actors and regulations related to the MSW management in
the Metropolitan Region of BH. Subsequently, the analysis of secondary data brought
information on MSW flows and paths in the cities of the studied metropolitan region. Interviews
with agents linked to the MSW flux clarified the current management framework in the
metropolis. Three moments of institutional initiatives to work on solid waste management in a
metropolitan way were identified: a first attempt in the 1980s, proposed by Plambel. Another
moment identified was the elaboration of the Integrated Development Plan of the MRBH
published in 2011; and as of 2011, a third moment, marked by the implementation of a Public
Private Partnership, with a consortium of companies responsible for the transshipment and final
disposal of the MRBH’s garbage. The study identified that the option for a PPP is also fraught
with political assumptions and choices, as political ecology allows to affirm. These choices
were not supported by the change of government and the context of the state’s fiscal crisis, so
it was considered that the third moment ended in 2014. The study concluded that different
representations in relation to MSW coexist in the MRBH, while the metropolitan management
proposal for MSW has weakened in recent years. However, public initiatives to metropolize the
management of MSW have been limited to the problem of the materiality of waste in the
metropolis and the urgency of an adequate final destination flow; this still proves to be the
biggest challenge for municipalities, and it is an opportunity for the inclusion of waste pickers.