Selective waste collection in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region: impacts of the National Solid Waste Policy

The expansion and strengthening of the provision of services of selective collection to brazilian municipalities by cooperatives and associations of collectors of recyclable materials, comes to meet the targets set in the National Policy of Solid Waste (NPSW). It is estimated that in the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo (MRSP), was collected in 2013, through selective collection 3.8% of the 21.000 tons of municipal solid waste. The article analyzes the impacts of NPSW on selective collection in the MRSP, from the outcomes of researches carried out in the years 2004, 2010 and 2013. Questionnaires were applied in 39 municipalities with the public managers. It was found that although the selective collection, in particular the one practiced with organizations of waste pickers, has expanded in the period 2004 to 2013, no significant advances were verified in the period 2010 to 2013, after the approval of the National Policy.