Page 50 - UmRio Sustainability - Action Plan
P. 50
FUTURE INITIATIVES
One step that can be taken to begin to address flooding would be to start separating
waste within Morro do Castro and center the efforts at the public school. This waste
separation will also reduce methane emissions, a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.
Mixed solid waste is
openly dumped and, in
Brazil, averages
approximately 1kg/day
per person (“Panorama
2020 – Abrelpe,” 2020).
Approximately 52% of this
waste is organic,
something that could be
easily composted or used
for energy and will aid in
reducing flooding and contaminating water (Orizon, 2022). However, this mixed waste
makes separating resource recovery and creating any circularity within the favela
difficult. UmRio expressed a desire to turn the local public school into a location where
students could learn about composting and gardening.
The collection of organic
waste at public schools by
students will provide a way
for teachers to include
climate change resilience
into the curriculum and for
students to have hands-on
experience in a tangible
effort. The initial goal will
be for students to take
small tin buckets home,
bring back organic food waste to school, and place them in collection containers
provided by Cico Orgânico. This business provides composting services for organic waste
all over Rio. Founded in 2015 by Lucas Chiabi, Ciclo Orgânico is Brazil's first company to
collect and compost residential organic waste. They have a site that can mechanically
compost more than 300 tons of organic waste per month and a dedicated truck for
transporting the waste, though all local pickups are done by bicycle.
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