City-Level Decoupling-Case Studies

Extensive publicity and education campaigns were used to encourage residents to separate their garbage, with a strong focus on the role of children as change agents. Several communication campaigns were aimed specifically at encouraging children to separate their waste at home, mainly through the city’s elementary schools. A cartoon family known as the Leaves ( Família Folhas ) enacted common household scenarios in comics and plays, and the campaign was designed to be fun and child-friendly. Young students were very effective in disseminating ecological concepts to their families and making sure that their parents participated in domestic garbage separation. The city has since also included children in a water conservation programme, teaching them how to test water for pollution so that they may have a greater appreciation for it. As in many cities in Latin America, shantytowns and squatter settlements in Curitiba form high density settlements in vulnerable areas such as hillsides and flood plains. The uncontrolled dumping of garbage in these areas soon started to affect watercourses, resulting in flooding and the spread of disease. It is often difficult to extend conventional mechanized methods of solid waste removal to these areas due to irregular alleyways and the interference of criminal elements. Formal waste collection in Curitiba also faced resistance from autonomous garbage and recycling collectors whose livelihoods were threatened by municipal collections.

In response to these challenges, the city created the “Garbage Purchase”

program. This was aimed at encouraging neighbourhood associations to become involved in the management of centralised garbage containers on the periphery of areas that are difficult for collection trucks to access. Residents associations work with the city government to distribute bags and control the recyclables collected by each family. To incentivise the public to get involved, every bag filled with 8 to 10 kg of waste could be exchanged for a bus ticket. The value of these tickets was equivalent to the cost of conventional garbage collection, but did not involve any direct expense by the city as bus operator companies are remunerated based on mileage and not passenger numbers. Following initial success, an undesirable side effect of this approach became apparent when informal collectors started to encroach

Recyclers receiving fresh fruit and vegetables in exchange for recyclables (Source: IPPUC 2011)

on areas serviced by formal collections. Formal collection soon became unprofitable because the domestic waste was removed before the trucks had a chance to collect it. In addition, the informal collectors' carts started causing traffic problems as they made their way around the city without adhering to the rules of the road or safety protocols.

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