Logistics improvements in a cooperative of recyclable waste collectors in Belém-PA: A proposal based on NSWP

The increase in consumption has contributed to the growth in solid waste generation. In 2012, Brazil presented an increase in waste generation rates, which exceeded the rate of population growth. The metropolitan region of Belém-PA reflects this scenario as well. This Brazilian State has taken actions in order to combat this problem, and one of them was the creation of the National Solid Waste Policy (NSWP) established by Law No. 12,305 (2010). This Law contains guidelines for handling, decreasing generation, reusing and recycling solid waste. In this sense, the cooperatives of recyclable waste collectors are an important link in this reusing and recycling network. Thus, this paper proposes improvements for the processes performed by a cooperative of waste collectors, located in Belém-PA, in the context of the NSWP by encouraging the sustainable development of this organization. For this purpose, the theoretical background was provided from journals and government sites, especially topics regarding to the said Act and the Reverse Logistics (RL). In addition, data from the cooperative activities were collected and analyzed, which resulted in the following contributions: proposition of improvements in the processes, object of this study, which followed the NSWP considerations. These results proposed actions aligned to the principles of sustainable development expected in the NSWP, as well as to generate new content focused on the area of Production Engineering, especially Logistics