Environment impacts: the importance of studying them

Abstract

The environmental impacts caused by solid waste in the town of Guaratinguetá, SP, are not different from the ones that happen in other towns in Brazil, specially when it is considered the inadequate disposal of wastes materials and the appropriation of spaces for their final destination. The trash dump of the town is in the urban area, next to Paraíba do Sul River and a rice plantation. This article aims to discuss the impacts caused by inadequate disposal of solid waste. It will be based on a historic research about the trash dump and on a project of integrated management of solid wastes, which will start working with people who depend on the trash dump to survive, called waste collectors. Key Words: Trash dump. Environmental impacts. Integrated management. Selective collection.