CHARACTERIZATION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE IN MANAUS, BRAZIL: IMPLICATIONS FOR LOCAL MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE RECOVERY

Abstract

The article describes the activities carried out to characterization of municipal solid waste in the city of Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, aiming to understand how the gravimetric composition and physicochemical properties of the generated materials influence municipal waste-management planning. A quantitative-qualitative, descriptive and explanatory approach was adopted, combining literature review in national and international databases, documentary analysis of official plans and diagnoses, and systematization of empirical data from sampling and weighing campaigns in regular collection trucks. The results show a predominance of the organic fraction in total waste mass, followed by plastics, paper and cardboard, as well as a significant share of recyclables that are still not recovered. Gaps are evident between the potential for material recovery and current practices, which remain heavily focused on conventional collection and landfilling, with consequences for the environmental pressure of the system and for socio-environmental vulnerabilities in the Amazonian metropolis. It is concluded that detailed waste characterization is a strategic input for revising plans, defining investment priorities, strengthening recycling and assessing energy-recovery scenarios consistent with the territorial specificities of Manaus.