Aline Porcina, Agência Indusnet Fiesp
After almost nine years of waiting, at the end of April, Interministerial Ordinance Number 274/2019 was published, which deals with the energy recovery of municipal solid waste. The text, aligned with the National Solid Waste Policy, defines concepts and provides rules for the licensing and operation of plants responsible for recovering and transforming waste into an alternative source of energy.
By regulating this type of energy use, the Ordinance directly affects various waste related activities, such as collection, disposal and the processing chain. To discuss the challenges and solutions of this environmental framework, FIESP joined on Wednesday (15/5) with several specialists and representatives from entities and public bodies in the workshop “Power generation through municipal solid waste”.
According to the director from the energy division of the Infrastructure Department of FIESP, Manuel Rossito, there are four major themes that must be worked on to improve the destination of urban solid waste: methods of financing, taxes, business models and legal security. “This is a big problem for Brazil today. Most sectors of production, the State and society resort to judicialization very easily. We need to have a clear scenario, with defined and long-term rules”, he evaluated.
With the Ordinance published, the Federal Government has already opened the possibilities for States to draft their own regulations and deepen the licensing of recovery units, following the example of what São Paulo did, in a pioneering way, in 2009, with the publication of Decree No. 54,645, which instituted the Solid Waste Policy for the state. “It is possible to harmonize development with sustainability. Our focus is on regionalization and new technological routes. We want to reduce the role of landfills in the final destination of solid waste, in addition to work on new approaches such as reverse logistics, selective collection, social participation and environmental education”, said José Valverde, from São Paulo Secretary of Infrastructure.
Financing and guarantees
Regarding financing and guarantees, the general coordinator of Private Sector Projects at the Ministry of Regional Development, Denise Seabra, presented worrying data, but also some opportunities for the country. The Ministry of Regional Development manages the Guarantee Fund for Length of Service (FGTS), a source of funding, according to Denise, attractive for the long-term that can be used for both the public and private sectors.
Of the R$ 120 billion invested through FGTS funds, only R$ 1.65 billion, equivalent to 2%, was directed to the solid waste management. There were only 56 projects, 22 public sector financing contracts and 10 private sector contracts. Despite these numbers being bad, there will be the possibility for financing new projects: “The traditional mechanisms are already insufficient to meet all the sector's deficits. It is a challenge for everyone! It is necessary to get closer to the players in the sector, work hard to improve and increase the proposals, so that the process is faster and more efficient”, pointed out the coordinator.
Waste transformed into energy
The generation of energy through solid waste is not new in Brazil. Furnas Centrais Elétricas has been developing a project with a capacity of 1. The first tests were carried out at an experimental plant in Mauá city, and then the project was installed in the municipality of Boa Esperança (MG). The energy generation process uses fluidized bed gasification, a 100% national technology, developed in partnership with the company Carbogas Energia.
“It is a simple process, similar to a sugarcane bagasse plant. The process goes through fuel preparation, gasification, gas oxidation and power generation. The preliminary results show that the process does not form leachate, does not use expensive filters, eliminates the emission of methane gas and reduces the production of tar” explained Luiz Eduardo Marques, from the New Business Management Department at Furnas. He considered that the business model depends on several factors, such as the profile of the potential consumer public, the supply of fuel and the execution of consistent and lasting contracts.
Fonte: https://www.fiesp.com.br/