‎Brazil News

The Environment Minister, Ricardo Salles, signed, this week, the launch of the public notice for the selection of projects, with planned investments in the amount of R $ 100 million, aimed at improving the management of solid waste in the state of Minas Gerais. The measure stems from the substitute agreement signed between Vale and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) related to the Brumadinho accident. The agreement established that the payment for the infractions be converted and applied directly to environmental actions in the state.

 

In July last year, Vale paid R $ 250 million, as compensation for the environmental damage caused by the rupture of dams in Brumadinho in 2019. Of the total amount, R $ 100 million was allocated to the implementation of projects under the Lixão Zero program, of the Ministry of the Environment. The other R $ 150 million of the agreement will be allocated to infrastructure investments in national parks in Minas Gerais.

 

The funds paid by the mining company will be transferred to public consortia in Minas Gerais and applied to projects to improve the management of solid urban waste. The projects selected in the public notice will count with an investment of R $ 100 million for the structuring of mechanized waste sorting plants from undifferentiated and selective collection.

 

The optimization of sorting contributes to the correct treatment of waste, improving the environmentally appropriate final destination. As a consequence, the state will benefit from the closure of garbage dumps, the economic valorisation of recyclable materials and organic waste, and the generation of fuel derived from waste, which can be used in cement plants, through co-processing, to replace the use of fuels. fossils.

 

Zero Waste Program

The Lixão Zero program was the second axis of the Urban Environmental Agenda to be launched, still in April 2019. Among the actions of the program, we highlight the direct transfers, which have already reached municipalities in all regions of Brazil, in addition to regulatory advances. , reverse logistics agreements and other actions.