Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
02/17/2014
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Fruit often becomes a headache to be consumed in cities and beaches where reuse projects struggle to succeed .
BBC
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The potential of recycling coconut industry cheered two businessmen trying to venture into such projects in São Paulo. But , according to them, the high costs involved meant that the initiatives - the ones identified by the BBC in Brazil 's largest city - were not on.
Each coconut shell generates at least 1.75 kg of waste ( Photo: BBC )
Only green coconut ( from which the water is extracted ) , arrived in Ceagesp ( Company General Warehouses of São Paulo ) 1.7 million units in December 2013 . Each of them generates when less than 1.75 kg of residue.
André is Bussab company director Biococo , which processes and recycles coconut shells produced in Ceará . Some years ago , his company tried to resume a project of reusing the coconut husks consumed in Ibirapuera Park , one of the busiest of São Paulo .
Consumption in cities and beaches is more dispersed ,
hindering collection ( Photo: BBC )
The project began in 2007 , when the Secretariat of the Green and Environment implemented collection points for thousands of coconuts consumed weekly in the park , aiming to repackage them to produce agricultural substrates .
But Bussab explains that the project became too expensive to attract interest from companies . ' There was too much red tape as to the collection schedules , the project lost the sponsorship ( of a bank ) , the shipping is expensive. No longer afford. I thought I'd be able to solve these problems , but it did not . '
Fatine Chamon went through a similar experience with the same design . With your property Post Coco , ( whose factory is now closed ) , she also came to make the transport of shells in Ibirapuera in 2010 , but withdrew .
' It was very expensive to transport the shells and have a place for drying in São Paulo ' , she tells the BBC Brazil . ' I thought lacked political interest in solving the problem . '
Today , coconut sellers Ibirapuera say coconut shells collected goes to landfills . The BBC Brazil 's São Paulo offices consulted the Green and Services , as well as Amlurb ( Municipal Urban Cleaning Authority ) , in search of initiatives to collect and recycle the coconut. None have been identified .
The Secretariat of the Green just said ' sellers ( Ibirapuera ) collect and discard the fruit into specific buckets ' , since the implementation in 2011 of a measure limiting the sale of coconut water to disposable cups and bottles , for reasons hygiene .
' Big Problem '
The Sao Paulo experience exemplifies the difficulties in recycling coconut in urban or coastal environments .
Many industries coconut internally recycle waste production , reusing much of the material to fertilize their own planting . But ' the residue of coconut becomes a big problem ( when it comes to ) cities and beaches , "explains Fernando Abreu , researcher Empraba in Fortaleza , where he investigates uses for recycled coconut.
The bark begins to serve for composting after about six months and , according to some experts , can take up to eight years to fully decompose. Besides causing stench , the residue becomes focus of mosquito. But as consumption is dispersed and the material is heavy, their collection often becomes a headache for municipalities .
In Rio , Comlurb ( Municipal Urban Cleaning Company ) informs that a working group between the municipal departments was established to ' develop the policy and operation of the disposal of coconut shells ' .
It said street cleaners are already using green carts made of coconut fiber . ' The project is expected to produce about 1500 for cleaning carts in 2014 . '
management
In Fortaleza (CE ) , the city plans to resume a project to collect and recycle that began in the late 1990s , but is stopped for about three years.
For Albert Gradvohl , solid waste coordinator of the Municipal Conservation and Public Utilities, the harder it is not the collection itself , but rather the management of recycling projects .
' On the beaches , consumption is generally close to tents , which are responsible for throwing the trash in a container only coconuts ' he says. ' The problem is that recycling has to be economically viable . Before , the thing was very amateur point of view of management, then stopped completely . '
This semester , according Gradvohl , the project will be restarted to produce briquettes - blocks of flammable material that can be used by industries for power generation - from recycling 700 tons of coconuts per month and the pruning of plants .
"We are coordinating partnerships with industries , making the maintenance of the equipment ( the existing recycling plant ) and giving training to the collection cooperatives ' he says.
São Vicente on the coast of São Paulo , since 2011 also has a recycling project in partnership with a cooperative of waste pickers , who gets the proceeds from the sale of recycled material.
' The coconut received is processed into fiber and substrate . Every day a truck makes the collection of green coconut in some parts of the city , "says the mayor . ' The cooperative plan to expand this activity to the making of pots and landscaping platforms . '
For Francis Harbour , president of Sindcoco , called ' Brazil cost ' is high and there is little incentive for the Brazil national recycled coconut products (such as webs of fibers , which serve to compose upholstered vehicles ) .
Source : G1
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.