Curitiba

by Meira in Issues, December 12, 2009

The city of Curitiba in Brazil despite an exploding population, has been successful in tackling its environmental problems. It has harnessed the untapped potential of its poorer sections that would otherwise find it exceedingly hard to find work. The secret is a world-class waste management strategy that is intelligently planned and carefully executed. Read on to find out more!

Curitiba, the capital city of Brazilian state of Paraná, with its 1.8 million people is the largest city in southern Brazil. In the past, it was a victim of urban agglomerations caused by increased migration of people from the countryside. Slums were created along the flooded banks of the river and due to lack of funds, the City Council was unable to employ more trucks for garbage collection from the city’s inaccessible areas. Furthermore, there was an increasing need to reduce landfill problems and decrease non-biodegradable wastes such as tires, polystyrene (Styrofoam) and other types of plastic from going into the waste stream.

The Green Exchange

In the Green Exchange Programme, poor families residing in inaccessible slums exchange their reusable/recyclable garbage (mostly plastics) for food, groceries and transport passes. Shantytown families are also given access to health and social services, which would otherwise be unavailable to them due to money constraints. An extension of the same programme helps kids exchange their recyclable trash for school supplies (stationery, bags, books etc.), chocolates and toys. This program hence achieves two very important goals simultaneously – reducing the amount of non-biodegradable plastic that goes into the waste stream, and generating income and social services for the underprivileged class of the society.

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Garbage that’s not Garbage:

Following the positive response from the Green Exchange Programme, Curitiba implemented the Garbage that’s not Garbage Programme that enables it to recycle almost 70% of its plastic waste.

Sorted plastic is collected on a weekly basis from homes and taken to a Recycling Station which employs poor people of different age-groups, recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. The Recycling Station is a manifold facility that has classes, conference rooms, health services and playgrounds where the residents engage in the recycling process. They also have an entire collection of art and craft items built using the waste material collected.