Set of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of construction waste management in Paraíba Valley (SP)

Abstract

Construction is an important activity to increase population's quality of life in developing countries, whether by implementing infrastructure projects or by constructing new houses. The activity also provides employment and income, including for populations with lower levels of literacy. In its formal market, Brazilian construction activities have great representation in the national GDP and employment indicators. Moreover, the sector is responsible for informal employment in all regions of the country. The notorious importance of such activity, however, does not ensure suitable control for all significant environmental impacts it generates, with great emphasis on the use of raw materials and the generation of solid waste. Much of its waste mass generated is ruled erratically, contrary to the existing legal rules since 2002, even in municipalities where such waste management solutions are already deployed. Such situation is also observed in Paraiba's Valley region, where many impacts are up to be controlled, but not yet solved. Therefore, this project aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of waste management from current construction system. It is an applied research whose proposition and validation of quantitative and qualitative indicators will make use of survey research in two groups, namely: local public managers and members of the Technical Chamber of solid waste from the Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering. Since most of Paraiba's Valley Region has not yet a set of municipalities with prepared plans for integrated solid waste management, it is necessary to point that the results achieved by the present work may be appropriated for local managers and, thereby, able to contribute to improving the environmental quality of those territories. (AU)