Resíduos sólidos em Juiz de Fora/MG: uma revisão histórico-geográfica

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to conduct a historical-geographical review of urban solid waste in Juiz de Fora, MG, from the 18th century to the present day. Also addressing the final disposal sites of urban waste, the study was based on a bibliographic review. In this way, information was extracted to reconstruct the historical geography of the city, highlighting issues related to public health, sanitation, salubrity, and urban cleanliness. In this context, the contributions of the French engineer Gregório Howyan, responsible for the city’s Sanitation and Expansion Plan, and the Juiz de Fora Municipal Council, which promoted the municipality through an Album designed to showcase its modernization, stand out. These discussions date back to the late 1970s with the implementation of the Special Project for MediumSized Cities (CPM/BIRD), supported by the World Bank, a period that marked Juiz de Fora’s history as the time when the city received the most financial resources from national and state governments. Based on these findings, the general objective of the research was developed, emphasizing the key roles of IPPLAN-JF (Juiz de Fora Institute for Research and Planning) and DEMLURB (Municipal Department of Urban Cleaning) in implementing final urban waste disposal sites and their associated socio-environmental impacts. Throughout the research and in its conclusion, we present the conflicts resulting from the lack of dialogue with civil society and the fragmented management of final waste deposits, particularly in the case of the first landfills: Bethânia Site (1987–1999), Boa Vista Site (1999–2005), and the Salvaterra Controlled Landfill (2005–2010). The establishment of the CTR Dias Tavares, the city’s current landfill, in 2010—despite its contested location among the broader public—opened a new challenge for the city: to avoid repeating the mistakes made in the processes linked to previous landfills.