Analysis of the Solid Waste Management of the Sugarcane Industry in Pernambuco

Analysis of the solid waste management of the sugarcane industry in Pernambuco

Maiara Gabrielle de Souza Melo
1

Maria do Carmo Sobral2

André Ferreira3

- Introduction

The sugarcane agribusiness stands out due to the large amount of solid waste generated in their production processes. One of the main problems caused by industrialization is precisely the disposal of waste resulting from the production process, which affect the natural environment and human health.

Most of the sugarcane waste activity needs an adequate destination; it cannot be accumulated indefinitely at the site where it was produced. The disposal of waste in the environment, by means of matter and energy emissions released into the atmosphere, waters, or soil must occur after being treated and must be framed on standards established in environmental legislation in order not to cause pollution (AQUARONE, 1990 PELIZER, 2007).

On the other hand, the processes of production and processing of sugarcane have special features, because their residues are not considered as waste, but as byproducts and thus are valued by the industrial sector (BNDES, 2008).

In this sense, the purpose of this work is to describe the legislation on solid waste management in Pernambuco and analyze how it is being applied to the sugarcane sector of the state. The methodology consisted of both bibliographic and documentary research.

- Legislation Related to Solid Waste Management in Pernambuco

In 2001 Pernambuco put state law No. 12.008 into effect, which regulates the State Solid Waste Policy. This law stipulated that requests for environmental permits are made to conform to the Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP).

Subsequently, the CONAMA Resolution 313/2002 established the National Inventory of Industrial Solid Waste as part of the licensing process and therefore mandatory.

The CPRH Normative Instruction 03/2006 provides for the submission of the Annual Report of Solid Waste generated and provides:

Article 1 - all industrial enterprises subject to environmental licensing on The CPRH must submit the Annual Declaration of Industrial Solid Waste for the previous year,

I- Which produce an amount of annual waste exceeding 50 tonnes / year; and / or

II-Which produce any kind of waste classified as dangerous (Class I to ABNT NBR 10.004:2004).

Already the IN 04/2006 of The CPRH established the criteria for the submission of the Industrial Solid Waste Management Plan, making it obligatory for: industries with total waste generation above 1,000 tons per year; and/or industries that generate dangerous waste totaling over 250 tons per year. The Solid Waste Management Plan should be updated whenever there are changes in the production process that affect the generation or the management of waste.

In 2010 it established the New Solid Waste Policy of Pernambuco, Law n º 14,236, which brought into their instruments:

I - State Program for Solid Waste Management

II - Plans for Integrated Management of Solid Waste

III - State Information System about Solid Waste

IV - inventories of solid waste;

V - environmental licensing;

VI - environmental monitoring and oversight;

VII - technical and financial cooperation between the public and private sectors for implementation;

VIII - scientific and technological research;

IX - reverse logistics;

X - environmental education;

XI - fiscal, financial and credit incentives.

- Management of agro-industrial wastes from Sugar Alcohol Sector in Pernambuco

In Pernambuco, until the publication of the first inventory of Industrial Solid Waste in 2001, there was no control over the waste generated by industries. The data from this inventory indicated that residues of the sugarcane agro-industry accounted for more than 90% of industrial waste generated in the state.

In relation to waste measured in tons, sugarcane bagasse with 42% of the total generated in t/year is highlighted; organic process wastes representing about 29%; and filter cake with 20%. Although it does not appear among the main waste, boiler ash corresponds to 2.8% of the total. Of this total, 99% are characterized as waste of Class II and 1% of Class I.

With respect to waste measured in tons, the organic waste process, with emphasis on the vinasse "liquid residue", representing 91% of the total, followed by waste oils which represent 6% and solid waste composed of non-toxic metals, with 2% of the total. Of this total, 93% of waste is Class II and 7% in class I.

The same inventory, the main waste from sugar and alcohol industries were listed (Table 01)

Table 01: Distribution of the total generation of the types of industrial solid waste by type.

source: CPRH/GTZ, 2001.

About the final destination, were described as follows:

Table 02: Distribution of final disposal of industrial solid waste by type in 2001.

source: CPRH/GTZ, 2001.

Since 2006, the Annual Statement of Industrial Solid Waste and the management of industrial solid waste plan became obligatory for sugar and ethanol enterprises, thus normalizing access to information that previously was only possible through the collection for inventory. The annual declarations of Industrial and Solid Waste must be submitted each year as a condition for the granting of operating licenses, and a management plan for industrial solid waste once obtained, is valid for up to 5 years and needs only be changed if there is a significant modification in amount, type and destination of waste.

In these 41 annual declarations of Industrial and Solid Waste that were analyzed, the difficulty was on the part of companies to provide the information requested. The most frequent facts highlighted the error in measurement units of some wastes, the omission of many wastes generated, and lots of forms of storage and final disposal not specified being specified.

The diversity of waste generated, as well as the frequency with which they are declared by enterprises, indicates that there is very little uniformity in the annual declarations of Solid and industrial Waste by the sugar and ethanol companies. It highlights the fact that many residues that are always generated in the industries were not declared .The Normative Instruction 03/2006 provides that in these cases it is necessary to correct the declarations, so this error can also be considered as an environmental administrative violation.

Wastewater composed of cane wash waters, floors and equipment, and the waters of barometric columns are usually mixed with vinhoto for fertirrigation of sugarcane fields, and so there is often no monitoring of the composition of these effluents. It is evident that these waters, mainly from barometric columns, are discarded at high temperatures and therefore can not be discharged directly into the water body. The cases in which these waters are discharged into the water body must attend CONAMA Resolution 357/05.

For the vinhoto, only five sugarcane mills declared their production, even with all these new developments being alcohol producers. The final destination is through fertirrigation .

Although all companies manage agrochemical packaging, only the five plants were cited. It is emphasized that only one company produced 6 tons of agrochemical packaging during the previous harvest, showing the large amount of chemicals used. The Federal Law n º 9.974/00 regulates the disposal of empty agrochemical packaging. These packages must be properly disposed.

The disposal of batteries, also cited by five companies, should follow CONAMA Resolution 257/1999. Several wastes such as plastic packaging, sweeping waste, waste paper and cardboard, and food residues were sent to municipal garbage dumps, although many of them could be sent for composting.

The straw from sugar cane, although generated by all projects analyzed, was announced only by one sucarcane mill.

In the annual declarations of Industrial and Solid Waste of previous years the straw had not been cited due to the practice of burning, which already was incorporated into in the habits of Pernambuco sugar cane industry.

The Sugarcane bagasse, the boiler ash, and filter pie continue to be the wastes generated in great quantities, as also is demonstrated by the data from the inventories of 2001 and 2003.The Boiler ash and filter pie are incorporated into agricultural soil, whereas all bagasse is used in caldeiras. Possibly the vinhoto is still one of wastes generated in larger quantities, but this fact cannot be affirmed from the annual declarations of Industrial and Solid waste in 2008 because only five projects declared their generation.

To Jendiroba (2006, p. 351-352), depending on the massive amount of wastes generated in the sector, the situation is complex, and requires planning for disposal during the entire harvest. Therefore, the practice of using the main waste producing areas cane sugar was developed.