Efeitos de seleção preliminar de resíduos sólidos urbanos na produção de biogás em aterros sanitários: estudo de caso em Ponta Grossa, Paraná Brasil

Abstract

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ponta Grossa, a city in the central region of the state, transformed its former “dump” into a Controlled Landfill, allowing for better environmental control. It is known that a significant part of urban solid waste (MSW) is of organic origin whose decomposition emits biogas, which in turn carries greenhouse gases (GHG), among them is methane (CH4), which is less than twenty times more dangerous than carbon dioxide (CO2) but has a high calorific value – being able to use it as a natural fuel to generate thermal, electrical or mechanical energy. In a landfill it is considered the disposal in cells or ditches of all the residues collected in the municipality, except construction and health residues. Content most of the useful volume of the landfill is occupied with the waste of degradation is slow. When considering preliminary waste separation between 20 and 40% for better efficiency, it was identified that the procedure would extend the life of the landfill within 9 years, without significant impact on the amount of methane produced. Municipal environmental services require increased revenues to ensure their sustainability. In the case of Ponta Grossa, it was possible to identify that the adoption of a preliminary selection system would have a positive impact on the useful life of the Landfill.