Brazil – Improved Waste Management in Brazil
Since 2013, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has proactively worked to develop relationships and initiatives in Brazil. Today, our collaboration focuses on sustainable waste management and climate mitigation.
We work together with Brazilian states such as Paraná, Ceará, and São Paulo, the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the federal environmental agency IBAMA, and several other stakeholders from the private, academic, and municipal sectors. Based on the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between MMA and the former Swedish Ministry of Environment and Energy, the cooperation is primarily funded through the bilateral agreement allocation.
Sustainable Waste Management
As part of the collaboration on sustainable waste management, initiatives are underway in areas such as municipal waste planning, food waste prevention, circular material flows, and marine littering.
According to Brazilian law, all municipalities in Brazil are required to develop their own waste management plans. However, currently only a few have done so. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts aim to meet this need and encourage smart solutions for waste prevention and circularity.
In recent years, there has been a strong focus on biogas as a logic circular solution that contributes to waste management, emission reduction, and high-quality biofertilizers. Brazil has a massive agricultural sector, where the potential for biogas is enormous. Therefore, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency collaborates with Brazilian stakeholders as well as other Swedish institutions with expertise in the field, such as Linköping University.
Biogas production in Brazil – Barriers and strategies for overcoming them (pdf, diva-portal.org)
The report was supported by the Swedish EPA.
Reduced Plastic Use
In its collaboration with Brazil, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency places strong emphasis on reducing plastic usage. With the primary goal of decreasing plastic pollution in oceans and biodiverse ecosystems, but also in urban settings, the agency shares technical expertise on policy development and alternative solutions for more sustainable plastic consumption.
Contact
Do you want to know more about the cooperation with Brazil? Send an email to Hugo Pedrosa Latorre,