Catalyzing Investment in Urban Sustainability
U.S.-Brazil Joint Initiative on
Urban Sustainability

Projects

Waste Management

Asta Social Business

Asta, a social business and producers/direct-sales network, has worked since 2008 to "transform lives by producing 'for good'" -promoting the production and distribution quality goods that also do good for those in the network and Brazilian society at large.

BigBelly Trash Compactors

In 2009, Philadelphia replaced 700 public wire trash baskets with 500 BigBelly-brand solar trash compactors.

Gramacho Landfill Gas to Energy System

The Gramacho Landfill was receiving over 3 million metric tons of waste per year until 2012, producing at its peak 119 million Nm3 methane (normal cubic meter CH4) through decomposition within the landfill, which represents both a contribution to global climate change and a loss of a potential low-pollution energy source.

Morar Carioca "Verde": Greener Development

The Rio de Janeiro Municipal Secretariat of Housing (SMH) made respect for the environment a core principle of their interventions in the "favelas" (slums) of the city.

Porto Maravilha: Urban Waterfront Revitalization

Since the 1970s, the Port of Rio de Janeiro has fallen into disrepair-currently 1 million m2 of real estate are under-occupied and many historic buildings have not been kept up.

Rio Operations Center

The Rio Operations Center, inaugurated in December 2010, integrates the data and monitoring functions of approximately 30 municipal and state agencies and corresponding utilities under one roof.

Zero Waste Program

San Francisco (SF) has a goal of zero waste by 2020.