INVESTIGATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF GUARULHOS MUNICIPALITY-SP (BRAZIL) BASED ON ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

Large Brazilian cities have been growing at fast and unsustainable rate capable of affecting environmental resilience. Consequently, this growth leads to significant increase in the generation of municipal solid waste that, in its turn, has strong impact on the environment. Accordingly, the aim of the current study is to assess the environmental sustainability of Guarulhos municipality with respect to the generation and ecological footprint-based management of municipal solid waste. Data on municipal solid waste generation were extracted from the State Inventory of Municipal Solid Waste published by Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo [Environmental Company of São Paulo State], on a yearly basis. MSW data have evidenced increased waste generation between 2013 and 2020. The value calculated for ecological footprint was 0.377787 gha, whereas the municipality’s biocapacity was estimated at 0.0011 gha; this finding has shown significant environmental imbalance. Results have evidenced the need of taking measures to reduce waste production through municipal management strategies, such as waste reuse, recycling, composting, recovery, energy use and, most of all, through environmental education to encourage citizens to generate less waste and to get involved in programs and actions focused on reusing municipal solid waste.