Legislation

Law 12,305, of 02/08/2010. Establishes the National Solid Waste Policy; amends Law No. 9,605, of February 12, 1998; and takes other measures. Brasilia, 2010.

The PNRS goal for implementing sanitary landfills in Brazil

The art. 54 of the PNRS establishes that “the environmentally adequate final disposal of waste, observing the provisions of § 1 of art. 9, must be implemented within 4 (four) years after the date of publication of this Law”. It means the end of landfills in Brazil by 2014 and their replacement by landfills in all Brazilian municipalities.

By the way, we must understand as an environmentally appropriate final disposal the “orderly distribution of waste in landfills, observing specific operational standards in order to avoid damage or risks to public health and safety and to minimize adverse environmental impacts” (art. 3, VIII ). It means the mandatory implementation of sanitary landfills to replace dumps and controlled landfills.

The art. 9, § 1 of the PNRS establishes that “technologies may be used to recover energy from solid urban waste, provided that their technical and environmental feasibility has been proven and with the implementation of a toxic gas emission monitoring program approved by the environmental agency. It appears that during the decomposition process, some products emit methane gas, which through monitoring, control and collection techniques can be transformed into an energy source, avoiding its dispersion in nature.

Joint and shared responsibility in the management and management of solid waste.

The art. 25 of the PNRS establishes that the management of solid waste in Brazil is a commitment of everyone: public authorities, the business class and society in general. The art. 30 provides for shared responsibility for the life cycle of products, according to which each sector (manufacturers, importers, distributors and traders, consumers and holders of public urban cleaning and solid waste management services) has a specific role in the various stages that involve the existence of the product, from production to final disposal. These sectors must undertake integrated efforts in the planning and execution of the PNRS commandments, under penalty of civil, administrative, and criminal sanctions, in accordance with art. 51, in words:

“Art. 51. Without prejudice to the obligation, regardless of the existence of fault, to repair the damage caused, the action or omission of individuals or legal entities that results in non-compliance with the precepts of this Law or its regulations subjects offenders to the sanctions provided for by law, in particular to those set out in Law No. 9,605, of February 12, 1998, which “provides for criminal and administrative sanctions arising from conduct and activities harmful to the environment, and provides other provisions”, and in its regulations.”

Thus, art. 9th, caput of the legal diploma establishes that “in the management and management of solid waste, the following order of priority must be observed: non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling, treatment of solid waste and environmentally adequate final disposal of waste”. Therefore, the final disposal of waste in landfills is the last measure to be taken.

The fundamental purpose of PNRS, in view of the growing production of solid waste, is to encourage selective collection, recycling and reuse of everything possible, leaving only the waste to landfills.

The elimination of landfills in the country and the implementation of landfills in all Brazilian municipalities requires concrete action from all sectors involved in the product life cycle process. In this aspect, the implementation of selective collection without social participation is unfeasible; the disposal of waste in landfills without constant monitoring and technological investments is ineffective; Likewise, we cannot talk about non-generation, reduction, reuse, and recycling of solid waste without environmental education. Ultimately, the implementation of the guidelines imposed by the PNRS requires the adoption of public policies that involve the entire society.