Ilya Laptev

Chief Editor

How different countries deal with garbage

In the 20th and 21st centuries, problems arose in the world that could not even be imagined in science fiction novels before the scientific and technological revolution. Epidemics, mass starvation, natural disasters and much more are in the past. But scientific and technological progress has brought with it many other problems. Despite the fact that there are global problems such as nuclear weapons, corruption, many "manias" and "phobias" in the world, garbage is considered one of the main problems.

Benefits, banknotes and garbage teleport

Back in the middle of the last century, the problem of garbage was not so acute. The most developed countries simply brought it to Africa and continued to develop further. But very quickly, nature showed that everything in it is cyclical. In medieval cities, people simply threw garbage out the window and got the plague as a result. Europeans and Americans received many other problems in their territories from the garbage that arrived from Africa, which they also sent there. Waste dumped in the desert couldn't just dissolve into a vacuum. Since then, the most developed countries have come a long way in terms of disposal and recycling. They approached the issue as pragmatic as always, and very quickly learned how to make a lot of money on this.

The garbage business began with a division. But not territories or financial flows, but garbage. In European cities, there was a massive propaganda about how good it is to put garbage in different bags, and how bad it is to dump it in one pile. Separate collection made it possible to separate organic matter, household waste, glass, plastic, paper, batteries, and metals even at the stage of the consumer. Secondary sorting took place directly on the conveyor, and then each processor sent the garbage where it saw fit.

For example, in Germany, entire cities are heated in this way. The incentive for distribution was that in any store you can turn in a bottle and get back the security deposit. It is important to note the influence of advertising in the media, child care facilities and so on. There are also well-defined waste laws in the country. And a whole special police department monitors the disposal. It is normal for Germany that your neighbor can complain to the right place if he suddenly sees that you dump several bags of garbage into one container. Moreover, the police will come to establish whether this is really so. And if so, open your pockets wider. Fines for such an offense in Germany are huge.

But if you want not to give away, but to receive a few banknotes - collect and sort not only your own, but also someone else's garbage. This is how some German schoolchildren earn. Waste-to-fuel processing plants are also popular in the Netherlands. And here, for the collection and separation of waste, you can get coupons for a discount on utility bills, and even for the purchase of housing.

The Spaniards, unlike other inhabitants of Europe, are not so prudent. They have trash on the streets. In some cities, they decided to deal with this in a very original way. There are special teleports on the streets of Barcelona. When you throw garbage at them, it immediately ends up in an incinerator.

Surprisingly, the British, prim according to legend, are also not the cleanest. In some areas, garbage may be collected only once or twice a week. The authorities are fighting dirty, punishing them with a pound. Even misplaced trash cans on your front lawn can result in a fine of around £1,000.

In the United States, they approached the problem creatively. In addition to the fact that the Americans, at the level of mentality, the one who litters is equated with a great sinner, they also manage to skillfully advertise a “clean” lifestyle. There is an art project in New York - NYC Garbage. Beautifully arranged rubbish is put into transparent cubes, and it becomes an art object. Big money is made on such “creativity”, and garbage becomes part of conceptual art. What are only the "mertz" of Kurt Schwitters worth.

Plastic is one of the most important pollutants of our time.

Plastic is one of the most polluting materials for the environment. Polymers are cheap, they are universal, they can be used literally everywhere. As a result, almost half of human waste is polymers. Under natural conditions, they decompose for hundreds of years. In the process of decomposition, harmful substances are released, such as styrene, phenol, formaldehyde, etc. At the same time, plastic is difficult and unprofitable to recycle. So in the world, even 10% of plastic waste is not recycled.

One of the global solutions in the fight against plastic is the creation of biopolymers. Already, many of them are actively used in various areas of life. In medicine, during surgical operations, water-soluble polymers are used, which are assimilated by the human body without harm. Much less in other areas. However, with the development of technology, bioplastics are increasingly appearing among conventional packaging and household products. This happens because it was simply not profitable for manufacturers to invest in this industry before. The production of bioplastics was much more expensive. But with the development of technological progress, obstacles are gradually removed. In 2013, the biopolymer market was just under $65 million. It has now tripled in size. According to forecasts, by 2020 the total number of bioplastics will be 5-7% of all polymers. Now it is about 1%.

One of the most common biopolymers at the moment is polylactide. It is extracted from lactic acid. The Swiss company Sulzer has established a plant for the production of such plastics in the Netherlands, which produces about 5,000 tons of biopolymers per year. Interestingly, the company did not have to completely change the technology. For the production of bioplastics, it was enough to slightly modernize the enterprise for the production of conventional polymers. Even more interesting is that one of the main shareholders of this company is a financial group from Russia - Renova.

Plastic recycling is also cultivated in Switzerland itself. To simplify the process, it is customary in the country to separate garbage not only by quality, but also by color. At the same time, the lids from the container are stored in a separate container.

In the US, plastic waste is dealt with in different ways. For example, in Minneapolis and St. Pau, it is in principle forbidden to sell products in plastic packaging, unless it is made from biopolymers. The states have a program for sorting polymer waste, which is encouraged by the state. Citizens receive various preferences for collected bottles - from cash rewards to benefits and bonuses. And in one of the US universities came close to technologies that in the future can help get rid of plastic in principle. Plastic is placed in a barrel with a catalyst and heated for 3 hours at a temperature of 700 degrees. After that, the plastic turns into carbon, which is used to charge batteries. They are said to work much better and longer than others.

In Japan, as early as 20 years ago, they passed laws severely restricting the use of hydrocarbon polymers. Legal entities pay much less taxes if they themselves sort or process such waste. Individuals receive various preferences, for example, in the form of reduced utility bills, etc.

In Germany, they approached the problem differently. In addition to the fact that they have a cult following in sorting and separating waste, German clothing brands also use recycled plastic. The Puma brand has produced a special line of clothing called InCycle. The German “circle” (namely, this is how the name is translated) included traditional sportswear made from natural fabrics interspersed with polyester, which was obtained from recycled plastic bottles. The entire collection was created from biodegradable raw materials. The company has installed special bins in its stores where you can throw worn-out shoes. The part that is not biodegradable will go to the production of new clothes. The other will become a polyester granulate, which the manufacturer claims is not hazardous to nature.

In Edmonton, Canada, they have learned how to make biofuel from plastic waste. It is mainly used for racing cars. Methanol is obtained from the waste, which allows the car to develop tremendous speed. More processed products are used to heat the city.

In China, scientists conducted an experiment with the decomposition of plastic using petroleum ether with iridium. Plastic is heated with this catalyst at a temperature of 150 degrees. What is obtained as a result of decomposition can be used as fuel. The real disadvantage is that a part of the catalyst is able to decompose 30 parts of plastic. Considering that iridium is an expensive material, its commercial use is currently not profitable. Scientists continue to work on making the technology cheaper.

Plastic recycling in Russia

In Russia, the problem of plastic recycling, like many other types of waste, is quite acute. One of the main problems is that we do not have a common understanding of what to do with plastic, how to sort it, etc. This is not counting infrastructure problems, lack of technology, laws. At the same time, Russia is still taking certain steps in the fight against plastic.

For example, scientists at Samara University have developed a technology for creating bioplastics based on organic waste, herbs and fruits. At Kemerovo University, work was underway on a genetically modified plant based on tephroseris (field cross), which is capable of decomposing plastic.

In the Republic of Komi in the city of Yemva, there is a plant for the production of paving slabs from recycled plastic. There are special bins in the city where the population throws away plastic containers. As a result, 30 m2 of plastic paving slabs are produced every day.

Polymer waste is one of the main problems of the 21st century. Different countries deal with it in different ways. But one thing is clear: waste recycling, perhaps on a par with virtual reality, IT, gadgets, is becoming one of the most promising business areas.

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With its history, garbage shows how the idea of ​​not only hygiene and health issues, but also urban planning, the social structure of society, and even international relations has changed. This becomes clear not only from the composition of waste, but also from the changing ways of its disposal.

The compilation tells how the garbage has come a long way - from a pile of broken clay pots outside the settlement to tons of nuclear waste - and what people have learned along the way. A garbage collection village in China, an electronics dump in Ghana, a ship graveyard in India - how the world is getting rid of waste.

The first waste bins at the municipal level were recorded in Athens in 400 BC. e. Then all the waste was collected in special baskets, which were then emptied in designated places outside the city. In ancient Rome, garbage was also taken out of the city limits. In the southwest of Rome, the artificial hill of Monte Testaccio, one of the largest ancient dumps in the world, is still preserved. Monte Testaccio, almost 50 meters high, consists entirely of fragments of 25 million broken amphoras.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, garbage on the streets became one of the causes of mass diseases. Only in the 15th century, after the plague in many European cities, the question of paving the streets was asked: before that, the townspeople had to wade through puddles of dirt, feces and food waste. However, the first systems for wastewater began to appear only with the advent of the era of industrialization.

The first system was built in London, in the Thames Estuary, at the end of the 19th century. Engineer Joseph Baseljet designed a system of ten sewers that drained into the North Sea. Prior to this, all waste was poured directly into the Thames.

In the 20th century, with the development of technology and production, the composition of garbage has qualitatively changed. Now cardboard, plastic, chemical and medical waste have been added to food waste. But at the same time, for a long time, the method of its disposal remained the same: the garbage was buried, thrown into the ocean or burned. Only in the second half of the 20th century, along with the growth of the hippie movement in America, did interest in the problem of ecology appear. On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day event takes place, in which several thousand educational institutions across America take part. Peaceful demonstrations called for the development of environmental protection methods.

Today, depending on the region, the issue of garbage is solved in different ways. In some countries, residents are busy diligently separating paper from tins at home. Other countries, like Switzerland, import neighbors' rubbish and burn it in their factories. Thirdly, people work at landfills, sorting out garbage brought from Europe and America, sometimes in containers under the guise of humanitarian aid.

In Switzerland, everyone pays a fee for a certain size of their trash can. As a result, in order to save money on garbage, many enterprises buy rammers that compress waste into cubes and thus allow you to pay for an additional tank. Residents and businesses alike have become so adept at compacting and distributing their waste that modern incinerators lack raw materials. Many of them are aimed at burning waste and generating electricity. To pay for and justify the construction of factories, some Swiss cantons have to import garbage from Italy.

In Japan, garbage regulations are determined by the municipality, or to be more precise, by the garbage plant that belongs to it. On average, each resident has to divide their garbage into the following categories - plastic, glass, tins, cardboard and paper. Separately, waste should be divided into combustible and non-combustible. If you bought a cutlet in a plastic wrapper and then washed the container, then you need to put it in plastic trash, and if you haven’t washed it, put it in a combustible one. When the Japanese want to donate large electrical appliances, they buy a special stamp and stick it on the item before throwing it away. The value of a stamp depends on the item. For example, a refrigerator can cost between $50 and $100 to throw away. Therefore, many Japanese do not throw out large garbage, but give it to friends for free.

In Beijing, all types of recyclable waste - from plastic bottles to iron cans - do not have to be taken to collection points, it is enough to take them out into the street in the morning and sell them to a garbage collector passing by. The scavenger, in turn, will take the loot to the suburbs of the capital, Dong Xiao Kou Village, known as the village of garbage collectors.

In this small village, not far from new buildings, mountains of cardboard, old tires, dishes and paper waste rise. The inhabitants of the village, mostly visitors from remote poor provinces, spend here around the clock, sorting out the rubble. Some live in self-built huts from boards or metal plates found right there in the dump.

In the vicinity of Accra, the capital of Ghana, there is the largest electronics dump in the world - the Agboshbloshi dump. Here, on the Atlantic coast, computers, televisions, monitors, old cassette recorders, sewing machines and telephones are brought from all over the world and thrown into one big pile.

The rubbish of some people turns here into the wealth of others: people from all over the country come to the electronic rubble to earn money. The workers at the junkyard break the machinery apart or burn its individual parts and collect the aluminum and copper parts. At the end of the day, for copper and aluminum, they receive a cash reward at the receiving point. Average earnings per day is $2-3. Most Agboshbloshi workers die from disease and poisoning caused by poisonous substances, toxins and radiation.

The city of Alang on the northwest coast of India is known as the largest ship graveyard in the world. Along 10 km of coastline, just like dolphins thrown by the waves, old cargo and passenger ships lie here. Over 20 years of the existence of the enterprise, more than 6,500 ships were dismantled here.

Old ships are brought here from all over the world, often without prior decontamination, and then the workers take them apart with their hands or with the help of simple tools. On average, 40 people die annually on the territory of the enterprise due to chemicals and accidental fires.

The artificial island of Thilafushi, clogged to the very edges with garbage, stands out brightly from the paradise landscape of the tropical Maldives. The government of the country decided to create this island because of the growing amount of garbage caused by the influx of tourists.

Since 1992, garbage has been brought here from all the islands of the archipelago, and today its amount reaches several hundred tons daily. Thilafushi lies at a height of only 1 m above sea level, which increases the risk of chemicals and other wastes entering the ocean and the gradual destruction of the ecosystem.

According to the Natural Resources Conservation Council, 40% of food produced in the US is wasted. At the same time, food is wasted at all stages from production to consumption: on farms, during transportation, in supermarkets and in the kitchen at home. According to statistics provided by the council, the average American family spends up to $2,000 a year on food, which they end up throwing away. In addition, many US states are suffering from severe drought, while in neighboring states 25% of the water is wasted, namely, to irrigate fields with grain, which ultimately does not go to consumption. The problem is also with landfills: they produce gases into the air that are no less dangerous to the environment than carbon dioxide.

Garbage in the modern world often finds a second use for itself - in art, the restaurant business and even construction. But one way or another, all the original garbage ideas and projects are aimed at once again drawing people's attention to the overabundance of waste production in the modern world. For Copenhagen, for example, the architectural firm BIG has designed a new generation incinerator. The plant will not only process garbage into electricity, but also remind citizens of the amount of carbon dioxide generated. Each time 1 ton of carbon dioxide is produced, a ring of smoke with a diameter of 30 m will be emitted from the plant's chimney. At night, the ring will be illuminated in different colors. The roof of the plant will be used as a ski slope. Lifts to the top of the descent will pass along the sides of the plant. The construction of the plant is planned to be completed in 2016.

Spanish artist Francesco de Pajaro travels the world with his project Art is Trash and creates art installations from garbage in different cities. Francesco finds a pile of garbage on the street and in a few hours he repaints and moves the objects in this dump so that they turn into an installation. As a result, playful characters are obtained from discarded boxes, pieces of furniture and plastic bottles.

First in the US, and later in Europe, the dumpster diving movement, in other words, picking garbage cans, has become widespread in the past few years. The followers of the movement look for leftover food and suitable clothes in the garbage, thus trying to do their part in the fight against overproduction and overconsumption of goods. Many divers manage to find kilograms of fresh vegetables, and some even make a boat out of found building materials.

There are many other examples of non-trivial use of garbage. Artists collect paintings from it, photographers create a whole series of portraits of people surrounded by their own garbage, entrepreneurs open restaurants with dishes from groceries that were not redeemed on time in the supermarket, architects and planners use garbage as a building material, as, for example, in Japan when building an artificial island Odaibo. Throughout its history, garbage has come a long way of transformation - from a foul-smelling landfill to a modern art gallery. But, unfortunately, the very basic attitude of people towards waste has not changed, and people have not really learned anything over thousands of years: we still do not stop consuming immoderately.

The issue of waste disposal is acute in many regions of the world, and even the most developed countries cannot yet boast of an absolutely well-functioning system for collecting and processing waste. This is connected not only with technological capabilities, but also with the mentality of peoples and governments.

Waste management in Japan

In Japan, for example, people do not pay for waste disposal services that are burned in expensive furnaces at special factories. Apparently, this is due to the Japanese character - they would not spend their money on this, but would simply leave their garbage everywhere. However, the Japanese will have to pay for disposal if they throw away the bag of unsorted garbage.

Waste disposal in Germany

In Germany and Austria, things are completely different. The Germans not only pay for waste disposal, they carefully sort the garbage left behind and leave it in specially designated containers, respectively. The same can be said about Australia.

Waste disposal in the USA

In the United States, this issue is also treated very responsibly: almost every house is equipped with a special device that crushes and processes household garbage in order to then flush it down the drain.

Waste disposal in Russia

With regard to recycling in Russia, this has never been considered as a serious topic for reflection. Garbage was simply dumped in specially designated places outside the city. To date, this kind of procedure has not changed much. Most of these "garbage sites" do not meet international sanitary and epidemiological requirements for a long time. Almost all of them pose a serious threat to the ecology of Russia and neighboring countries: garbage dumps produce various kinds of toxins hazardous to health, such as carbon monoxide and methane. Pathogenic bacteria and carriers of infections, of course, exacerbate an already difficult situation. In other countries, they have long learned how to extract real profit from garbage and its processing, but Russia still has a long way to go in the field of such a business. Russia has very modern garbage incinerators, but most of them are not working at full capacity. The fact is that foreign technologies are used for their operation, which work inefficiently in our country. Unfortunately, in some cases, the problem of waste is solved in the following way: garbage is simply dumped in the nearest forest or along the highway.

“Approximately seven billion tons of household waste accumulate in Russia every year; of which six million tons are in Moscow and the Moscow region (about 350 kg of garbage per person per year).”

Today, scientists are arguing about various methods of waste processing in Russia and are trying to introduce them into people's daily lives. They even developed a project according to which the energy generated during processing can be used for power plants.

Speaking about new technologies in this area, it is impossible not to note the advanced developments of engineers from other countries of the world.
For example, while most countries cannot cope with the problems of waste disposal, causing landfills to come close to cities and poison the environment, Dutch engineers seem to have found a solution. They went beyond the idea of ​​making new household items from recycled products, and found an opportunity to build roads from garbage.

In short, according to this technology, specially processed raw materials are pressed into separate bars, which will be connected already at the facility under construction. Strict quality control at the manufacturing plant allows you to be sure of the quality of the new coating; in addition, these plastic roads withstand temperatures from about -40 to +80 degrees Celsius.

Let's start with recycling methods. The first and main one is incineration. By the way, it is also more common. There are a lot of waste incineration plants. The second way is to drip. Only biodegradable waste can be dumped. The third is recycling, that is, processing for further use. Recently, this method has been very popular. Moreover, the waste is sorted by type, and each type is put into its own container. Containers are containers and bags of various colors: each garbage has its own color of the tank. And then the sorted garbage is taken to recycling plants. The most intelligent in this respect were the French. They put chips on trash cans. And now they have information about filling the tank and when it is necessary to take out the garbage accumulated there. This information helps in adjusting the routes of garbage trucks: where to go first, where to go last. A good way to optimize time and effort.

In waste recycling, Japan is ahead of the rest. She could not overtake only Brazil. The Japanese are considered to be smart people, and will not waste their energy in vain. Everyone knows that this country is located on an island. The island is small: a lot of people, not enough space. There is no place to put garbage. And since there is nowhere to put it, you need to recycle it. How? Most of the waste is incinerated. The thermal energy released during this process is used to heat flower greenhouses. I collect flowers and immediately sell them for a small price. I disassemble all household appliances, old bicycles, furniture, restore them and again for sale.

Near each house they have plastic containers. Used things, household and food waste are put there - each garbage has its own bin and its own color. Moreover, each container has its own name corresponding to the type of waste. The most interesting thing is that 20 types of raw materials are extracted from garbage in nine groups, not excluding batteries, vegetable oils, car batteries. The whole population and even children are involved in the collection and sorting of garbage. Waste separation starts at home.

The Japanese even learned how to make building material from organic waste. This same material, when interacting with sea water, becomes as strong as concrete. It is used for the construction of artificial islands along the coastal strip. These islands are populated by people, houses, business centers, parks, airports are being built. As they say, there is a place to work, relax and spend the night. Moreover, these artificial territories are no different from the real ones. And since Japan does not stop exploring the territory of the World Ocean, the need for such building material will be in demand for a long time to come.

Well, we got to Brazil. The trend is to recycle, and it has become widespread here. There is such a city Curitiba. He managed to overtake and take first place in the collection of valuable household waste on earth. Most paper (70%), plastic (60%), metal and glass are recycled. Japan with its 50% left far behind, and yet it is considered the leader. The poor are involved in garbage collection, in a very interesting way. In some countries for the collection of raw materials give a monetary reward. Here they acted differently: for 6 bags of garbage they give one bag of food. Every week, 102 thousand people receive food in 54 poor areas, which allows us to collect 400 tons of waste every month.

In America, garbage is collected in plastic bags. As the bags fill up, they tie them up and take them out to containers near the house. And from there they are taken by special services, taken to conveyors and sorted. Bottles, paper, cans, bottles of drinks are taken from the mountains of garbage. Send all this stuff for recycling. All sorts of notebooks are made from paper, notebooks marked "recycling" - made from waste. The rest of the garbage is sent to landfill. Fortunately, there is where - America is a big country.

There was a problem with metal cans for drinks. So they solved it very quickly. For each deposited jar, they were given 5 cents, and things started to go well. A good way to make money, which some people did. Some time passed and small presses for paper, cardboard, cans began to go on sale. And now they stand in every institution and press, press, press.

Here is one drawing as an example. One man (a certain Jung from Detroit) set out to build a castle. For which, for 20 years, various household garbage was collected from the surrounding landfills. For what the eye catches on, then he took it. This business ended with the construction of a house on two floors, 16 rooms, a large hall with a fireplace. There were spiral staircases, and even a drawbridge. To top it off, the house was surrounded by a moat of water. And the entire construction cost a minimum of money, since their garbage was made.

Germany and Canada are not much different from their neighbors. Residents divide their garbage into three parts: food waste and pieces of paper go to compost. Everything that can be recycled - glass, waste paper, pieces of iron, plastic - is recycled. What cannot be disposed of is collected separately and for burial.

Everything is quite simple and solvable. The main thing is to be most interested in not being overwhelmed with the products of one's own vital activity at one fine moment.

Brazil is an example of the contradiction that has developed in the modern world between the paradigm of accelerated economic development and the need to preserve the environment. This problem is faced, in one form or another, by all developing countries, but for Brazil it is more acute than for many others. This is due, first of all, to the fact that Brazil is a real world reserve, a record holder for biodiversity and volumes of natural resources. What are the main environmental challenges Brazil faces and how is it responding?

Calling Brazil a grandiose nature reserve, we are not exaggerating at all. The country has the world's most extensive areas of tropical forests, and its flora and fauna include 12% of the world's biodiversity. The Amazon River can also be called a real natural treasury, forming around itself specific natural territories, the study of which continues to this day. Brazil also has a long coastline with beautiful beaches that attract tourists from all over the world. These factors not least determine the special attitude of Brazilians to environmental issues.

The presence of a large amount of natural resources, however, does not always mean caring for the environment and the absence of problems. Like any other country, Brazil faces a huge number of environmental challenges, all of which are related to human activities, accelerated agricultural and industrial production, urbanization and the irrational use of the gifts of nature.

Water and air pollution

The air over Brazil is filled with what is often not the aroma of tropical forests. Brazil is one of the regional leaders in the emission of CO 2 and other gases such as methane. The country is also among the ten countries in the world that emit the largest amount of harmful gases into the atmosphere. At the same time, microscopic particles of various origins enter the air - from cement and combustion products to heavy metals and minerals. All of them can cause severe harm to human health, negatively affect the ecosystem as a whole, and also contribute to global warming. Although Brazil has done a lot of work to reduce CO 2 emissions (the level decreased by 41% from 2005 to 2011) and other harmful gases, and has developed and implemented several programs of different levels in this area, air pollution remains a big problem. According to research by AIDA (Inter-American Association for the Protection of the Environment), the development of legislative initiatives did not take into account the various possibilities of the Brazilian states, some of which, for financial and other reasons, simply cannot fulfill their obligations.

With water pollution, things are perhaps even worse. The owner of the world's vast water reserves, Brazil is constantly experiencing water shortages for both food and agricultural purposes. In addition, huge damage is being done on a permanent or sporadic basis to key Brazilian resorts, whose waters suffer from violations of environmental laws. The states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina are fighting for the cleanliness of their famous beaches, but they often lose. In the summer of 2017, for example, the Argentine press wrote with concern about the contamination of the water on most of the beaches of Brazil, the most popular holiday destination for Argentines. Referring to the Brazilian environmental authorities, Clarín, in particular, noted that only 42% of the beaches have passed control studies, while the rest may pose a threat to health to one degree or another.

Soil pollution and the problem of waste disposal

Extensive land use for agriculture and animal husbandry, widespread use of pesticides and other toxic substances, and increasing deforestation are causing serious soil degradation in Brazil. Environmental activists have been sounding the alarm for years. By some accounts, Brazilian agriculture often uses substances banned for many years, including modified versions of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT. This causes enormous damage to soils, provoking their rapid degradation. In some cases, the use of toxins also leads to desertification.

Separate damage to the soil is caused by an abundance of solid waste, the disposal of which is difficult, which is especially felt in large urban agglomerations that produce tons of garbage daily. For example, on average, a resident of Sao Paulo produces 1.3 kg of garbage per day, a resident of Rio de Janeiro - 1.6 kg, and a resident of Brasilia produces 1.7 kg of waste per day. Although many large cities have recycling facilities, much of the waste does not reach them, ending up in open landfills. The latter, in turn, are practically not regulated in any way, poisoning the soil, water and air.

We should also not forget about large-scale deforestation. It cannot be said that this problem negatively affects only the atmosphere, water or soil, since the destruction of forests means the destruction of the entire ecosystem that has formed in them. In the recent past, Brazil managed to contain deforestation, but since 2015 the process has begun to gain momentum again: from 2015 to 2016, deforestation increased by 29% at once, raising serious concerns among environmentalists about a rollback in Brazil's environmental policy.

Countermeasures

One of the first steps towards the formation of an integral system of environmental protection was taken during the military dictatorship. In 1981, Law No. 6.938 "On National Environmental Policy" was passed. The law was basically guided by the provisions of the previous Brazilian Constitution on the ecological and environmental functions of the state, and the main purpose of its creation even then was to find a balance between economic development and nature conservation. The significance of the Law of 1981 is difficult to overestimate. With changes and additions, it has survived to this day, and it was within its framework that the National Environmental Protection System (port. Sistema Nacional do Meio Ambiente, or Sisnama) was formed, and the Registry of Environmental Protection was created (port. Cadastro de Defesa Ambiental ). Sisnama, in particular, is responsible for implementing environmental policy and improving the quality of the natural environment at all levels, from federal to municipal.

Another important step was Supplementary Law No. 140 of 2011. It modifies and expands the environmental management system while making it more decentralized and democratic than the 1981 version. Conceptually, this document reflects modern patterns of environmental management, including the vision of caring for the environment as a common cause of the state and society and emphasizing the social aspects of ecology.

In addition, international documents that determine the general vector of movement are of great importance for Brazilian environmental policy. Brazil is known for its activity in the environmental direction, it hosted the largest summits on this topic in 1992 and 2012, acting not only as a host country, but also one of the main engines for the development of final documents. Brazil signed and ratified the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, making a serious commitment to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Among the documents that the country relies on are the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the 2001 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and many others.