Actions and policy tools for local governments to achieve integrated sustainable waste management

Abstract

Integrated management of municipal solid waste seeks sustainability under the premises of environmental protection, health promotion, and economic development. In this context, this article proposes actions and policy tools for local governments to improve quality and governance in waste management. A set of 23 actions is proposed based on existing conceptual models and available legislation. The results are presented in three levels as follows: planning of the administrative and operational structure, waste management, and performance evaluation. The results showed that the proposed actions need to be implemented through policy tools, such as municipal legislation, social communication, normative instructions, and technical studies. The applicability of the proposed methodology, which might be replicated in any municipality to increase the efficiency of the waste management system, was positively evaluated in a medium-sized Brazilian city, which presented an overall attendance level of 52%.