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RIO DE JANEIRO – One of the world's largest open-air landfills, a vast, seasidemountain of trash where thousands of people have made a livingsorting through the debris by hand, will close this weekend after34 years in malodorous service. Long a symbol of ill-conceived urban planning and environmentalnegligence, Rio de Janeiro's Jardim Gramacho dump is beingtransformed into a vast biogas facility that will harness thegreenhouse gases generated by the rotting rubbish and turn theminto fuel capable of heating homes and powering cars.Environmentalists had blamed Gramacho for the high levels ofpollution in Rio's once pristine Guanabara Bay, where tons ofrun-off from the garbage had leaked. Less clear is what will happen to the more than 1,700 people whoworked at the site, scaling hills of fresh, fly- andvulture-covered trash to pluck recyclable plastic, paper and metalfrom the 9,000 tons of detritus once dumped there daily. Known as"catadores" in Portuguese, the trash pickers will receive alump-sum payout from the city, but there's no place for them atGramacho's replacement, the high-tech Seropedica dump, where mostof the Marvelous City's garbage is already being sent. "When you first get here, you're like, 'Ick, I don't know if I cando this,' but then you get used to it and you make friends and youfind it's good work," said Lorival Francisco dos Santos, a46-year-old from Brazil's impoverished northeast who spent 13 yearsat the landfill. In the works for years, Gramacho's closure was postponed severaltimes, and was slated to finally take place just weeks before theUnited Nations' Rio+20 megaconference on sustainable developmenthere. It also comes as the city gears up to host the 2014 World Cupsoccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics. "We've been telling the catadores about it for years, but somehowthey never believed it would really happen," said Gramacho directorLucio Alves Vianna. Gramacho sprang up on unstable, ecologically sensitive marshlandoverlooking the bay in 1978 and, for nearly 20 years, functionedwith little or no oversight. There was no lining on the massivelandfill's floor to prevent leaks of the toxic waste that wasroutinely dumped there, and the fetid juices produced by the rot oforganic materials drained directly into the water, helping makemuch of the bay unsafe for swimming. In 1996, Rio authorities stepped in, ending child labor at thesite, registering the catadores and restricting the kinds of trashthe dump took in to just household waste from Rio and four outlyingcities. Bulldozers started covering the picked-over trash with thick layersof earth. Now, with 12 layers each about 15 feet (5 meters) high,the 321-acre (130-hectare) facility has grown into a literalmountain of garbage overlooking the Guanabara Bay. Contamination concerns spurred plans to close the dump and tap intothe energy created by the decomposition of its estimated 60 milliontons of trash. More than 200 wells will capture the carbon dioxideand methane that emanate from the decomposing rubbish and pipe thegases to a facility run by Brazil's state-controlled energy companyPetrobras. Sales of carbon credits and biogas are expected to generate about$232 million over 15 years, a percentage of which will go topayments to the catadores. Rotting garbage currently accounts for 20 percent of the region'stotal carbon dioxide emissions and the move from Gramacho to thenew state-of-the-art facility is expected to reduce carbonic gasemissions by 1.4 thousand tons per year. The closure of Gramacho comes months after Mexico City shut downits massive Bordo Pontiente landfill, which led to the immediateappearance of thousands of illegal dumping sites throughout thecity. Authorities there came under sharp criticism for failing tomake sure a viable alternative was in place. With its Seropedica facility up and running well ahead ofGramacho's closure, Rio appears better prepared. The facility hasbeen kitted out with a triple-layer seal to prevent leakage as wellas sensors to detect any abnormality in the soil. Leachate, theliquid produced by the decomposing trash, will be captured, treatedand used as recycled water, the new facility's operators said. Despite the advanced warning, many of the trash pickers say theystill have no idea what they'll do next. They expect one-timepayouts of about $7,500 a piece in the coming days, but most saythey know the money will run out fast. Though the amount of trash dumped at Gramacho tapered off ahead ofthe site's closure, with just an estimated 300 trucks arrivingdaily, as compared with 900 in years past, the catadores saythey'll be hard-pressed to find another job that pays as well. DosSantos, the 46-year-old from the northeastern state of Paraiba,said he used to earn up to $1,500 a month - an enviable sum in acountry where the monthly minimum wage is just over $300. Others say they fear discrimination. "I've put off looking for a job because I just know that people aregoing to look down at me like I smell bad or something because Iworked here," said 41-year-old Debora da Silva. Though her threedaughters know she spent 15 years as a trash picker at Gramacho,she's kept it a secret from many of her friends and neighbors forfear of stigmatization. The catadores were catapulted to international fame in 2010 whenthey were featured in an Oscar-nominated documentary aboutBrazilian-born, New York-based artist Vik Muniz's photo projectabout the dump. "Waste Land" didn't end up winning the Oscar, butthe project raised money for the catadores. Dos Santos, for one, said the film helped restore the dignity ofcatadores, who have long helped the region recycle much of itsgarbage. "Now everyone knows we do dignified work, that we're recyclers,"said dos Santos. "Now, they can't discriminate against us and downthere in the city they'll have to receive us with open arms, likethe Cristo Redentor," referring to the Art Deco Christ statue thatpresides over Rio. I am an expert from tinplatesheet.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Tin Plate Coil , Alu Zinc Steel, Tin Plate Sheet,and more.
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