While Brazil has taken steps toward stopping the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest and Atlantic Rainforest, they have done little in terms of stopping pollution of the country's waterways. Some of the most polluted rivers in the world are found in Brazil. The country is also a complete failure in terms of disposing of the millions of tons of garbage, construction rubble, and industrial wastes that are generated each day. While the government's watchdog agency IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis) has laws up the wahzoo regarding environmental issues, there is almost ZERO enforcement ever undertaken.
Basic Sanitation - Even in São Paulo, Brazil and South America's largest city one home in every 6 does not have a bathroom indoors, nor is it connected to the potable water and sewer systems. In almost all Brazilian cities there is little beyond primary sewage treatment and in many cases raw sewage is dumped directly into the waterways. Secondary and tertiary sewage treatment are virtually unheard of in Brazil. As a result every year many of the most popular beaches on Brazil's coastline are closed because of abnormally high fecal coliform counts; remembering that acceptable levels by Brazilian standards are many times higher than in every other developed country on earth. Currently there is global concern about the unacceptable situation of the pollution of Guanabara Bay where many of the aquatic events of the 2016 Olympic Games will take place.
Garbage - Despite a law that was enacted to ban landfills all across the country, that law has never been put into effect. In many cases garbage is trucked to these sites and just dumped on the ground, often it is not even covered with a layer of earth. Worse still, Brazil accepts importation of garbage from other countries. While there are some industries that deal with recycling of aluminum, scrap metal, paper and cardboard, all of which have commercial value, there is to my knowledge no city in the whole country with selective garbage collection like the blue box system used in many countries. Also unlike in most other countries, Brazilians have the very nasty habit of just throwing their garbage wherever they please. Construction debris, old furniture, and anything that won't go in the regular garbage collection get tossed in the nearest vacant lot or just dumped in the street.
Industrial pollution - Very little if anything is done about it at all. Even when it is, a little bribe takes care of everything.
Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team
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