Mini-Open Dumps in the Paraná River Floodplain: Local Problems with Global Effects

Abstract

The growing production of urban solid waste is a structural problem faced by most cities around the world. The pro-liferation of mini-open dumps (MOD; small spontaneous open-air waste dumps formed in urban and peri-urban areas)on the banks of the Paraná River is particularly evident. During the historical drought (June-December 2021), we car-ried out sampling campaigns identifying MODs of the Santa Fe River, a secondary channel of the Paraná River. MODwere geolocated, measured, described and classified by origin. The distance to the river and other sensitive places wasconsidered (houses-schools-health facilities). Our results suggested a serious environmental issue associated with poorwaste management. MOD were extremely abundant in the study area, being mostly composed of domestic litter. Plasticsclearly dominated the MOD composition. Burning was frequently observed as a method to reduce the volume of MOD.We concluded that the proliferation of MOD is a multi-causal problem associated with a failure of public policies and alack of environmental education.