Waste management, COVID-19 and occupational safety and health: Challenges, insights and evidence

Abstract

Different fields of knowledge have faced challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential public services serving the population's needs were maintained. Previous studies have addressed the possibility of health hazards from handling solid waste (SW) among trash collection service workers, without introducing any data proving or dismissing those risks. Occupational health is stated in at least 2 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Pearson Coefficient (r) was employed to analyze the correlation between the number of cases of COVID-19 in SW collection workers in the city of São Paulo, considering the district city halls where the COVID-19 patients live and the SW collection workers' route, from March 2020 to March 2021. Employees who collected wastes with COVID-19: 2% collected healthcare SD, 4% worked at the waste transshipment stations, 10% household variable route collection, and 83% in defined routes collecting household wastes. Positive and moderate correlation was confirmed (r = 0.59) between the total number of COVID-19 cases and the trash collection routes, and the number of contaminated COVID-19 workers from their trash collection routes. Considering concessionary companies separately, the correlation found in the Southeastern grouping is 0.77 (positive and high correlation), and the correlation found in the Northwestern grouping is 0.18 (positive but insignificant correlation). The Northwestern grouping's concessionary had implemented more effective occupational health and safety management policies and disclosed them among their stakeholders. Results suggest concern related to occupational health and safety for SW collection workers and substantiating the vulnerability of this essential activity during the pandemic.

Graphical abstract

1. Introduction

Some issues were raised regarding sustainability (Ranjbari et al., 2021) and solid waste (SW) management after the COVID-19 pandemic began (Zhang et al., 2022), focused on the possibility of waste as a pathway for contamination (Zhao et al., 2021, Nzediegwu and Chang, 2020; Zand and Heir, 2020; Behera, 2021; Tripathi et al., 2020; Sharma et al., 2020; Penteado and Castro, 2021; DAS et al., 2021, Capoor and Parida, 2021), the production of domestic solid wastes since the beginning of social distancing (Ranjbari et al., 2021; Hantoko et al., 2021; Oyedotun et al., 2020; Kulkarni and Anantharama, 2020; Richter et al., 2021), the variation of street-sweeping wastes (Urban and Nakada, 2021), the production from healthcare wastes (Zhao et al., 2021; Haque et al., 2021; Das et al., 2021; Capoor and Parida, 2021; Klemeł et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021) and solid waste management (Tesfaldet et al., 2022; Penteado and Castro, 2021; Chand et al., 2021; Nzediegwu and Chang, 2020; Behera, 2021).

There has been an overall 20% increase in household waste production in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic (Kulkarni and Anantharama, 2020) and 30% In New York (Sharma et al., 2020). A change was also observed in its composition (Sharma et al., 2020; Tripathi et al., 2020) besides, that due to the increase in recyclable wastes (Klemeł et al., 2020; Hantoko et al., 2021), increase in organic wastes (Staub, 2020), and reduced street sweeping wastes (Urban and Nakada, 2021). Wastes generated from the households are classified as non-hazardous solid wastes (Hantoko et al., 2021). Healthcare wastes, classified as hazardous due to the risk they pose (Thakur, 2021), have increased its quantity, unequivocally because of the greater occupation of beds by COVID-19 patients (Das et al., 2021; Sharma et al., 2020; Zambrano-Monserrate et al., 2020). That increase was 600% in Wuhan, at the height of the pandemic (Tang, 2020), and 30% in Malaysia (Agamuthu and Barasarathi, 2020). In India the increase in production was more than 101 MT per day compared to previous months, before the pandemic (Capoor and Parida, 2021).

The outbreak of COVID-19 also raise concerns in the occupational safety and health (OSH) field (Brisolara et al., 2021). OSH is stated in at least 2 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (3- Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, and 8 - Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all), but when sustainability is taken into consideration, OSH is often forsaken, unfortunately. Nawaz et al. (2019) observe this connection associating safety to sustainability and linked safety to the three pillars of sustainability (financial stability, environmental responsibility, and social protection). Regarding recommendations in OSH management, social, and occupational factors can increase the risk of infection (Antonelli et al., 2021). Thus, aspects such as the use of personal protective equipment and proper sorting, hygiene routines, handling, and final disposition of potentially contaminated waste were addressed, observing the precautionary principle (Penteado and Castro, 2021). Some countries have adopted safety protocols for mitigating risks: the United States of America, the United Kingdom, India, China, and Nigeria (Hantoko et al., 2021). In Brazil, specific protocols for efficiently managing wastes on São Paulo's (São Paulo, 2020) and Curitiba's city hall websites (Curitiba, 2020). The possibility of contamination risk of trash collection workers when handling solid wastes (Hantoko et al., 2021; Tripathi et al., 2020; Haque et al., 2021; Behera, 2021), and trash pickers (Carenbauer, 2021; Nzediegwu and Chang, 2020; Penteado and Castro, 2021) was considered regarding waste management. However, these articles have not provided statistical analysis on observational data (Urban and Nakada, 2021; Chand et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2021; Richter et al., 2021).

The purpose of this article is to reduce the gap on missing observational data and introduce an analysis of the correlations between the number of confirmed cases of people with COVID-19 and the number of trash collection workers with COVID-19 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Constructing new knowledge is incremental, as further information in COVID-19 is released. As an incremental contribution, it reinforces capabilities in the short term (Wehn and Montalvo, 2018). The article is highlighting new health risks during a new disease has brought the entire world to its knees. Introducing information and data on the contamination of workers, who do not work in health services or collect waste from health services, is a novelty. Going beyond, the article contributes to the continuous improvement of waste management, disaster risk reduction and occupational safety and health. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of transparency, disclosure, and discretization of data related to this field, which allows for assessments and the proposition of prevention measures.

2. Methodology

2.1. Study area

The city of São Paulo, Fig. 1 , is located in Southeastern Brazil. The population is 12,396,372, 1521.11 km² of territorial area (Instituto Brasileiro De Geografia e Estatística - IBGE, 2020b)^, and it is subdivided into 96 districts that jointly make up 32 district city halls (São Paulo, 2021, São Paulo, 2021, São Paulo, 2021, São Paulo, 2021, São Paulo, 2021, São Paulo, 2021). The per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is R$ 58,691.90, constituting the highest GDP in Brazil (Instituto Brasileiro De Geografia e Estatística - IBGE, 2020a).

Fig. 1.

Location of São Paulo City (SP) in Brazil.

In 2020, the following types of wastes were collected daily: 11,500 MT from household waste and selective collection were collected daily, 126 MT from healthcare wastes, and 229 MT from street sweeping wastes and utility hole cleaning. The quantitative data on collected wastes are published on the city of São Paulo City Hall website (PMSP), updated monthly (São Paulo, 2021a).

“Autoridade Municipal de Limpeza Urbana” (Urban Cleaning Municipal Authority) (AMLURB) has managed urban wastes and cleaning since 2002. AMLURB provides services in the household collection and urban cleaning modalities, and it is linked to the “Secretaria Municipal das Subprefeituras” (Municipal District City Hall Department). The urban cleaning is made up by six departments and six private consortiums assigned by public bidding. Plus, two concessionaries (São Paulo, 2021b), operate all collection service. The AMLURB structure, consortium concessionaries, and the quantitative data on the solid waste collection are published on municipal website, (São Paulo, 2021c).

Door-to-door waste collection is performed on 100% of the streets and encompasses 96 municipal districts, and selective collection is performed in 94 districts, including 76% of the streets, (São Paulo, 2021b). Two concessionaries are responsible, and one of the concessionaries provides its services in the Northwestern regions (2000 employees). It serves 13 district city halls (downtown, north, and west). The other concessionary provides its services in the southeast areas (3300 employees) and serves 19 district city halls (south and east), Fig. 2 .

Fig. 2.

Map of the household and selective collection concessions in São Paulo City.

2.2. Data collection

The employee data on the waste collection were requested in the “Sistema Eletrônico de Informação ao Cidadão” (The Electronic System of the Citizen Information Service (e-SIC), (São Paulo, 2021d), resulting from previously registered data input. The supplied data includes employees with COVID-19 who collect household trash, healthcare waste collection, waste transshipment stations, and variable route waste collection workers (Table 1 ) from March 2020 to March 2021. The concessionary company's region where the employees collected household waste, both common and selective, is based on district city halls (Table 2, Table 3 ).

Table 1.

Employees with COVID-19 based on job sector.

Job Classification	Number of contaminated employees (March 2020 to March 2021)
Household collection (standard and selective)	130
Healthcare waste collection	3
Waste transshipment station	7
Variable route waste collection	16
Total	156

Table 2.

Number of residents with COVID-19 and waste collection employees with COVID-19 for each São Paulo district city hall, in their concessionary region of work in the Southeastern grouping.

Concessionary Southeastern Grouping
District City Hall	District	Number of infected residents in the districts (Mar./20 - Mar./21)	Number of contaminated employees in the routes serving the districts (Mar./20 – Mar./21)
Aricanduva Formosa	Vila Formosa	56,440	1
	Aricanduva
	Carrão
Campo Limpo	Campo Limpo	179,389	9
	Capão Redondo
	Vila Andrade
Capela do Socorro	Socorro	149,546	11
	Cidade Dutra
	Grajaú
Cidade Ademar	Cidade Ademar	89,062	3
	Pedreira
Cidade Tiradentes	Cidade Tiradentes	44,771	0
Ermelido Matarazzo	Ermelido Matarazzo	52,714	0
	Ponte Rasa
Guaianases	Guaianases	65,578	3
	Lajeado
Ipiranga	Cursino	93,874	5
	Ipiranga
	Sacomã
Itaim Paulista	Itaim Paulista	89,410	8
	Vila Curuçá
Itaquera	Itaquera	151,039	7
	José Bonifácio
	Parque do Carmo
	Cidade Lider
Jabaquara	Jabaquara	43,929	0
M Boi Mirim	Jardim Angela	159,190	5
	Jardim São Luís
Parelheiros	Parelheiros	38,209	4
	Marsilac
Santo Amaro	Campo Belo	52,682	4
	Campo Grande
	Santo Amaro
São Mateus	São Mateus	109,092	7
	São Rafael
	Iguatemi
São Miguel	Jardim Helena	93,491	6
	São Miguel
	Vila Jacuí
Sapopemba	Sapopemba	78,252	2
Vila Mariana	Moema	50,188	4
	Saúde
	Vila Mariana
Vila Prudente	Vila Prudente	65,082	2
	São Lucas

Table 3.

Number of residents with COVID-19 and waste collection employees with COVID-19 for each São Paulo district city hall, in their concessionary region of work in the Northwestern grouping.

Concessionary Northwestern Grouping
District City Hall	District	Number of infected residents in the districts (Mar./20 - Mar./21)	Number of contaminated employees in the routes serving the districts (Mar./20 – Mar./21)
Butantã	Butantã	106,255	8
	Morumbi
	Raposo Tavares
	Rio Pequeno
	Vila Sônia
Casa Verde	Casa Verde	73,422	2
	Cachoeirinha
	Limão
Freguesia do Ó and Brasilância	Fruguesia do Ó	99,336	1
	Brasilância
Jaçanã and Tremenbé	Jaçanã	63,724	2
	Tremenbé
Lapa	Lapa	64,615	12
	Barra Funda
	Jaguara
	Jaguaré
	Perdizes
	Vila Leopoldina
Mooca	Mooca	71,137	2
	Belém
	Brás
	Água Rasa
	Pari
	Tatuapé
Penha	Penha	122,622	4
	Artur Alvim
	Cangaíba
	Vila Matilde
Perus	Anhanguera	36,444	0
	Perus
Pinheiros	Alto Pinheiros	50,641	3
	Itaim Bibi
	Jardim Paulista
	Pinheiros
Pirituba and Jaraguá	Pirituba	110,148	3
	São Domingos
	Jaraguá
Santana and Tucuruvi	Santana	66,344	2
	Mandaqui
	Tucuruvi
Sé	Bela Vista	88,680	5
	Bom Retiro
	Cambuci
	Consolação
	Liberdade
	República
	Santa Cecília
	Sé
Vila Maria and Vila Guilherme	Vila Maria	66,227	5
	Vila Medeiros
	Vila Guilherme

São Paulo City municipal government maintains COVID-19 cases information on their site, including discretized data based on district and regional city halls, (São Paulo, 2021e). The available data makes it possible to identify the number of residents with COVID-19 based on districts and the data registered in the first year of the pandemic, from March 2020 to March 2021 (Table 2, Table 3).

2.3. Statistical analysis

The Pearson Coefficient (r) was employed to analyze the correlation between the number of cases of COVID-19 in solid waste collection employees in the city of São Paulo, considering the district city halls where the sick people live and the solid waste collection workers' route, from March 2020 to March 2021.

The purpose of the Pearson Coefficient (r) is to find the level of linear correlation between two variables (Eq. (1)), Cov (x, y) is the covariance between the variables and σ _x σ _y the product of the standard deviation of these variables, (Bisquerra et al., 2004).

$$r=\frac{\mathrm{Cov}\left(\mathrm{x},\mathrm{y}\right)}{{\sigma }_x{\sigma }_y}$$ (1)

• r = 1: Perfect correlation.

• 0.80 < r < 1: Very high correlation.

• 0.60 < r < 0.80: High correlation.

• 0.40 < r < 0.60: Moderate correlation.

• 0.20 < r < 0.40: Low correlation.

• 0 < r < 0.20: Very low correlation.

• r = 0: Null correlation.

The Pearson coefficient measure was employed to verify if the correlation is significant between the number of residents with COVID-19 in the districts and the number of waste collection employees with COVID-19 on these routes. The p-value hypothesis test of the T statistic was adopted. Null Hypothesis (H₀): p = 0 (a non-linear relationship for evaluating the data), alternative hypothesis (H1): p ≠ 0 (linear relationship between data).

3. Results

The municipal government's rapid and easy disclosure of electronic data made it possible to analyze the statistics regarding the solid waste collection workers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data on the number of waste collection employees with COVID-19 revealed that 2% collected healthcare waste, 4% worked at waste transshipment stations, 10% in household collection, with variable collection routes, and 83% in household defined routes.

The cases of residents with COVID-19 in districts and the cases of employees with COVID-19 linked to their work routes were correlated, using the Pearson Coefficient, considering the municipal districts where they work. The data from the entire city of São Paulo was initially correlated, including the 32 municipal districts. Subsequently, the data were correlated according to the districts where each concessionary company worked (Table 4 ).

Table 4.

Pearson coefficient (r) on the residents with COVID-19 and employees with COVID-19, in São Paulo, from March 2020 to March 2021.

Location of the correlated data	Pearson coefficient correlation (r)	(r) Classification	p-value	Linear relationship between variables
32 Municipal Districts	0.59	Moderate correlation	0.00	Significant
19 Southeastern concessionary municipal districts	0.77	High correlation	0.00	Significant
13 Northwestern concessionary municipal districts	0.18	Very low correlation	0.55	Non-significant

There was a moderate correlation and a significant linear relationship from analyzing the data on the employees with COVID-19 based on collection routes and residents with COVID-19 in these routes in the 32 municipal districts. But there was a non-significant linear relationship and low correlation linked to the Northwestern grouping and high correlation and significant linear relationship when studying the data separately, based on the collection route from each concessionary. There was a high and significant linear correlation in the Southeastern grouping and a low and non-significant linear relationship in the Northwestern grouping when studying the data separately based on the collection route from each concessionary.

Fig. 3, Fig. 4 display the relationship between the cases of residents with COVID-19 and the number of infected waste collection employees. They worked in the routes of the 32 municipal districts of São Paulo (Fig. 3), in 19 routes of the Southeastern district grouping (Fig. 4 A) and the 13 Northwestern municipal districts (Fig. 4 B).

Fig. 3.

Dispersion data of the residents with COVID-19 based on the route and solid waste employees with COVID-19 for each route.

Fig. 4.

A and B – Dispersion data on the residents with COVID-19 based on route and solid waste employees with COVID-19 in the grouping of the 19 Southeastern districts of São Paulo, from March 2020 to March 2021, (r) = 0.77 - (4 A), and dispersion data on the residents with COVID-19 based on route and solid waste employees with COVID-19 in the grouping of the 13 Northwestern districts of São Paulo, during the same period, (r) = 0.18 – (4 B).

A more significant number of employees with COVID-19 collected solid wastes in the routes where there were more residents with COVID-19, considering information from the 32 municipal districts while disregarding the division of the collection area from each concessionary. Fig. 3 displays an increasing trend and a moderate positive correlation between the data.

A positive trend and high correlation were found in the analyzed data from the 19 routes of the Southeastern district grouping, based on the solid waste route collection. Fig. 4 A shows data on the employees with COVID-19 increased in routes where there was a higher rate of residents with COVID-19. In the Northwestern grouping, considering 13 municipal districts, a positive but low correlation is displayed based on data on the waste collection route. It was impossible to observe a trend due to data dispersion in Fig. 4B.

4. Discussion

4.1. Healthcare wastes collection workers

There were data on 3 employees who collected healthcare wastes with COVID-19. This number represents 2% of the total solid waste collection workers with COVID-19. This fact is related to the training and wearing of specific personal protective equipment for this task. These workers are regularly trained for handling hazardous wastes, classified as Class I in Brazil. The training of these professionals encourages risk perception and reduces the risk of contamination (Veloso Neto et al., 2021; Bleck and Wettber, 2012). Besides that, proper sorting in the location also contributes to enhanced management and safety of the employees involved in their collection⁷.

4.2. Workers in routine door-to-door waste collection

Household waste collection workers do not get specific training on handling potentially infected wastes, then their routine should not encompass the handling of wastes classified as potentially hazardous. This situation might well explain why 93% of the waste collection employees with COVID-19 have been assigned to household waste collection. In Brazil, a hand-to-hand interaction between wastes and collectors occurs during waste collection, and there are no official safety guidelines, as observed by Kulkarni and Anantharama (2020), have been proposed so far.

The data from the 32 municipal districts emphasizes the vulnerability of the solid waste collection workers (Behera, 2021; Carenbauer, 2021), considering that a positive and moderate correlation was found (r = 0.59) compared to the number of residents with COVID-19 in the collection routes and the number of workers with COVID-19 in these collection routes. Two concessionaries handled municipal solid waste as previously indicated; each company trains and prepares their employees; this could impact the results. There can be a difference in the degree of training and the availability of personal protection equipment worn. Therefore, the data analysis based on concessionary is more precise.

The correlation found in the Southeastern grouping is 0.77 when the companies are analyzed separately. This value indicates a positive and high correlation for the solid waste collection employees with COVID-19 and the incidence of COVID-19 cases in this region. This result sets up a warning regarding the challenge in handling solid wastes in the COVID-19 pandemic, as household wastes from people with COVID-19 become potentially hazardous wastes (Wiktorczyk-Kapischke et al., 2021; Hantoko et al., 2021). Furthermore, the high correlation found in these data can be linked to routine occupational practices and employee training (Penteado and Castro, 2021). Gwenzi (2021) report waste collection and COVID-19 problems such as, solid waste from infected persons and lack of appropriate personal protective equipment in low-income countries.

It of paramount importance to evaluate the perception and the response to employees' risks, as many feel insecure in adverse situations. The importance of applying statistical data to employee safety statistics was observed, and the need to present and discuss these data with workforce, providing everyday examples to increase their risk perception (Veloso Neto et al., 2021). The manner residents sorted and packaged the wastes could also impact the results. The problem of proper disposal of solid wastes before the COVID-19 pandemic had become an even more significant challenge to handle (Penteado and Castro, 2021; Manupati et al., 2021), which included making the population aware of the appropriate disposition of solid wastes and their packaging. The PMSP published a Contingency Plan for handling solid wastes during the COVID-19 pandemic including communication campaigns and guidelines for the population in their communication medias and through household waste collection trucks equipped with loudspeakers installed in the vehicles (São Paulo, 2020). The success of most of the recommendations depends on the awareness of the population, and for this reason, it is imperative that decision-makers can implement contingency plans. Proper handling of solid wastes is a critical key factor in reducing or interrupting the spread of COVID-19 and bringing down the hazard of solid waste collection workers (El-Ramady et al., 2021).

The Southeastern grouping displayed the highest correlation coefficient in its region, clustering the lower-income population regions of the municipality (Lorenz et al., 2021) and the worst socioeconomic condition, considering such factors as education, mobility, poverty, wealth, income, a great number of underprivileged residents, and affordability of resources and services (Bermudi et al., 2021). Those factors describe the population's vulnerability in this region, and they can indicate the difficulties of handling solid wastes and the increased hazard of contaminating waste collection employees.

The correlation found in the Northwestern grouping was 0.18, indicating a positive correlation, however insignificant. The city's central region is part of the Northwestern grouping and then it displays better socioeconomic ratings than other regions of the city (Bermudi et al., 2021). That shows that this region has better infrastructure and explains why there is better solid waste handling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The residents from this grouping have higher access to information and better access to guidelines on sorting solid waste. That result also can be linked to company practices such as wearing personal protective equipment while collecting wastes from that region (Torkashvand et al., 2021), training, and experience on protocols facing hazards.

There are 2000 employees in the concessionary working in the Northwestern grouping. The Pearson Coefficient is (r = 0.18) while the concessionary working in the Southeastern grouping has 3300 employees, and its coefficient is (r = 0.77) related to the differences in each of the companies. COVID-19 is an enormous challenge for occupational health (Burdorf et al., 2020) and the difference in the number of employees suggests that the lower number of employees enables improved safety and health management control. In addition, the Northwestern concessionary grouping displays its occupational and health policy clearly on a virtual platform. That transparency expresses the company's commitment related to this theme, which is reflected in the daily lives of the employees. Occupational health and safety risk management is crucial to reduce occupational accidents and diseases in institutions (Brisolara et al., 2021; Mohandes and Zhang, 2021), also in waste management companies (Ramos et al., 2020). A safety policy improves management during critical periods as the pandemic, reducing stress and enhancing well-being, as it is an appropriate response in occupational health (Sinclair et al., 2020) and helps to achieve sustainability (Nawaz et al., 2019). Training all the teams, including supervisors and the administrative staff, is essential for mitigating hazards. The company's safety scenario is also the result of shared perceptions among the employees on safety policies and procedures that can directly impact the safety behavior of the employees while performing their duties (Sinclair et al., 2020).

4.3. Transparency, data disclosure, and informing hazards

Transparency and data disclosure related to solid wastes is challenging in Brazil, as many municipalities do not have a reliable database (Brasil, 2020). Easy access to these data, published through electronic platforms, enables the identification of different scenarios, and based on statistical analysis, will characterize weaknesses and opportunities for improvements. Identifying hazards related to solid waste handling is part of disaster management (Haque et al., 2021) and risk assessment (Yu et al., 2020), as in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. The solid waste collection workers need guidance on their occupational hazards (Bleck and Wettber, 2012) and are trained to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 contamination from solid wastes (Hantoko et al., 2021). That guidance must employ municipal data to address reality and hazards. For that reason, data transparency, rapid publication, disclosure, and communication are essential. The risks detected in the waste management chain also need to be clearly and effectively informed to the population so that people can truly perceive risk and accept their responsibilities in the integrated management chain of solid wastes. Control of spreading COVID-19 from managing solid wastes requires proactive efforts among the population, service providers, and government decision-makers (Kulkarni and Anantharama, 2020).

5. Conclusion

This research suggests the potential hazard of COVID-19 contamination from solid wastes and the vulnerability of employees who work in collecting wastes. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, these professionals were exposed to a variety of diverse pathogens. They are often not recognized for their work, related to their salaries and investments in their professional training and education. That lack of training or inadequate training can cause disregard for occupational risks in the routine of their work activities, especially in extreme situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Solid waste collection has been classified as an essential service in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic, to avoid interrupting this service; however, these professionals have always been crucial agents in environmental sanitation in Brazilian municipalities. The population's disregard of their importance of these agents can also generate inadequate sorting and placement for waste collection and significant contamination. The data presented in this work refers to formal workers in the waste management chain. The systems for collecting solid waste are challenging for developing countries like Brazil, where informal work is widespread. Around 75% of Brazilian municipalities declare the existence of solid waste trash pickers, and only 3.7% of these municipalities have formalized contracts with these workers, (Brasil, 2020).

Thus, more detailed studies are necessary on solid waste management as an essential source of making the systems more resilient in the future and in how to improve environmental sanitation in Brazilian municipalities. Moreover, municipal governments and solid waste management companies need to monitor the data and disclose them to perform research studies, making decisions based on actual data.

Funding

This work received financial support from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) - Brazil (PROAP/AUXPE).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Aline do Nascimento Beckert: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Virginia Grace Barros: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Writing – original draft.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Editor: Damia Barcelo