Government helps 109 cities with waste management project – 7/5/2023 – Market

Caixa Econômica and BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) selected nine municipal consortia to structure projects in the area of ​​solid waste.

The selected consortia encompass 2.78 million people in five states: Bahia, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Paraná and Rio Grande do Norte. If implemented, the projects will total R$ 5.6 billion in investments.

Now, Caixa and BNDES are going to hire consultants to analyze the situation of each regional arrangement and set up viable structures for each situation. With the projects finalized, city halls will select the most viable solutions for each situation and move on to the next step, which is to put the auction on its feet.

“These are medium and small municipalities, which cannot bear to treat solid waste alone because the cost is not worth it”, explained the special secretary of the Investment Partnerships Program, Marcus Cavalcante.

In all, 39 consortia were qualified, but only nine were selected in this first stage due to the structuring capacity of Caixa and BNDES.

“The idea is for the 39 to be carried out over the next four years and maybe to make a new call”, pointed out the director of planning and structuring at the BNDES, Nelson Barbosa.

The 39 consortia total 511 municipalities with 10.8 million inhabitants and an estimated investment of R$ 21.8 billion.

Projects in the area of ​​waste collection help smaller municipalities to meet the goal of ending dumps by 2024, replacing them with sanitary landfills.

To be able to participate in the call, consortia need to serve at least 150,000 inhabitants in the North region and 200,000 in other regions. The limit is 40 municipalities per consortium.

BNDES or Caixa pays for structuring the project. With the project being auctioned, the amounts spent by public banks are paid by the winner.

This arrangement resolved one of the main bottlenecks, which was the lack of capacity of small municipalities to structure projects, either due to a lack of qualified personnel or a lack of resources.