Until the beginning of this year, all waste generated in Marabá, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará, was dumped besides a road just over 4 km from the PA-150 highway. Decomposing organic matter attracted vultures, representing a serious risk, given that the dump is close to the city airport. Through a partnership between the municipal government and the Vale Foundation, the latter invested R$593,600 to hire a specialist company to carry out a study of the urban waste collection system and produce a plan to convert the unplanned dump into a controlled landfill.
The municipality, whose population of over 200,000 is growing quickly due to the implementation of steelmaking and infrastructure projects, generates around 130 tons of solid waste per day. The old dump has been transformed into a controlled landfill. The garbage is now compacted, leachate – liquid produced by rotting material – is drained off, and the waste is covered with earth.
The facility cannot yet be considered a sanitary landfill because we are not treating the leachate or the gases produced by the waste. These improvements are part of the original design and there are plans to implement them.
Study of waste collection system
Even though the full plan has not yet been implemented, the site has already been transformed. To produce the solution, a study was undertaken that mapped the city, identifying, for example, how many collection trucks operate and how often. Sixteen employees who work at the dump are currently doing training, and next year around 500 urban waste collection employees will be trained. The pilot project has already inspired similar initiatives in Ourilândia do Norte and Tucumã, neighboring municipalities.