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

Waste Management

Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy

In 2010, Brazil finalized its National Solid Waste Policy, a cross-cutting law that aims to decrease the total volume of waste produced nationally and increase the sustainability of solid waste management from the local level to the national level.

Brownfield and Land Revitalization

Environmental policies combined with community development strategies can reduce environmental, public health, and financial risks by encouraging safe reuse of brownfields instead of the conversion of undeveloped land.

Brownfield Area-Wide Planning (BF AWP)

This policy approach seeks to maximize brownfield cleanup and revitalization efforts at multiple sites in a local area through community involvement, planning research, technical assistance, and public-private partnerships.

Construction and Demolition Materials Management

EPA's construction and demolition (C&D) materials management policies focus on safe, beneficial use of the debris generated during construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges in order to conserve landfill space, avoid the resource impacts of new materials, create jobs, and reduce new project expenses.

Morar Carioca: Integrating Informal Settlements

As in many large cities in the developing world, a large portion of the population of Rio de Janeiro lives in informal settlements or slums, called favelas.

Municipal Recycling Collection Expansion

Currently, the City of Rio de Janeiro gathers only 1 percent of recyclables through official collection of separated materials, and reaches less than one-third of the City through its efforts.

Organic Materials Management

U.S. EPA policy on organic materials management makes source reduction and food recovery priorities in order to achieve a wide range of benefits, including renewable energy production.

Pact for Sanitation

Designed by the Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat for the Environment (SEA), the Pact for Sanitation (Pacto pelo Saneamento) program aims to universalize public sanitation in Rio de Janeiro. In 2007, when the Pact was conceived, only about 60 percent of sewage was collected and only about 24 percent of that amount was treated.

Philadelphia Sustainability Plan—Greenworks

In Mayor Michael Nutter's January 2008 inaugural address, he pledged to make Philadelphia the number one green city in America.

Public Participation Tools for Community Engagement

Local and national authorities in Brazil, the United States, and other countries increasingly recognize that successful projects require meaningful involvement of all affected people, which includes reaching out specifically to minority, low-income, and indigenous populations.

Site Cleanup Incentives-Financial Policies

Numerous financial strategies exist to reduce risk and "level the financial playing field" between undeveloped land and previously used, often contaminated brownfield sites.

Sub-National Climate Change Policies

Understanding the challenge that climate change presents at a sub-national level, both the State and the City of Rio de Janeiro have passed nation-leading sub-national climate change laws and instituted policies to decrease emissions and improve sustainability in the region.

Used Electronics Management/Recycling

When used electronics are discarded unnecessarily and improperly, the result can be adverse human health effects for workers and the communities due to potential exposure to harmful substances such as mercury and lead, as well as environmental pollution detrimental to our ecosystems and quality of life.

Zero Waste Strategies

A "zero waste" goal recognizes that incremental improvements in resource efficiency may not enable us to reach a sustainable future in the way that a more comprehensive goal of eliminating waste can.

BVRio: Incentivizing Green Credit Systems

Bolsa Verde do Rio de Janeiro (BVRio) or the Rio de Janeiro Green Exchange is an organization created to develop and operate environmental markets in Brazil.

Clean Development Mechanism (UNFCCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as part of the Kyoto Protocol.

Climate and Green Bonds

Climate and green bonds are fixed-income financial instruments that are issued in order to raise capital for the implementation of environmental projects, often climate change mitigation- or adaptation-related activities or renewable or energy efficiency projects, and therefore allow investors to report to their members on how their secure investments are also contributing to addressing environmental challenges.

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.