Modelos para a estimativa da geração e opções para valorização dos resíduos sólidos oriundos do setor hoteleiro

Abstract

Solid waste management in urban areas is carried out by municipalities, which are responsible for its collection and final treatment, which can also include waste generated in economic activities, as long as it is not of a hazardous nature. Among these economic activities are those related to tourism, with strong growth in the hospitality sector in Brazil. Given this context, the general aim of this research was to build mathematical models for predicting the amount of solid waste generated by the hotel sector. The object of study in this study was seven accommodation establishments in the city of João Pessoa. Three models were proposed, with the dependent variables being daily solid waste generation (MR, expressed in kg. day-¹), per capita generation rate (Tx1, expressed in kg.guest-¹.day-¹) and generation rate per area (Tx2, expressed in kg.m-².day-¹). The independent variables analyzed were the number of rooms, the number of beds, the number of guests, the occupancy rate, the number of employees and the services offered. The models were validated according to the assumptions of a linear regression model. A gravimetric analysis was carried out to identify the types of solid waste produced in hotels. In addition, a life cycle assessment was carried out for different management scenarios for biowaste from the hotel sector. The daily generation of solid waste (Mr) from the hotels ranged from 7.5 kg.day-¹ to 468.30 kg.day-¹, with an average production of 122.39 kg.day-¹. Based on the number of guests, the services offered and the number of employees, the Mr model explains 71% of the daily generation of solid waste in the hotel sector. The per capita generation rate (Tx1) varied between 0.11 kg.guest-¹.day and 5.17 kg.guest-¹.day-¹, with an average rate of 0.99 kg.guest-¹.day-¹. According to the Tx1 model, this rate is explained 30% by the number of employees and the weight of the services offered. The generation rate according to area (Tx2) varied between 0.0008 kg.m-².day-¹ and 0.0609 kg.m-².day-¹, with an average rate of 0.0170 kg.m-².day-¹, and can be explained by 63% of the population, occupancy rate and services offered. Based on the application of the proposed models, the daily generation in João Pessoa's hotel sector can be estimated at 4,148.48 kg.day-¹, with an average generation rate of 0.640 kg.guest-¹.day-¹, or 0.0140 kg.m-².day-¹. The results of this research indicate that solid waste from the hotel sector is made up, on average, of 57% biowaste, 24% recyclable waste and 19% non-recyclable waste. This waste is currently disposed of in the landfill in the city of João Pessoa. Results of the life cycle assessment indicate that disposing of biowaste in the landfill has higher negative environmental impacts than composting or anaerobic digestion in 62.5% of the categories analyzed. Decentralizing treatment proved to be effective in reducing the net impacts of centralized treatment. Therefore, the research makes it possible to identify the main variables that significantly influence the generation of solid waste in the hotel sector, as well as making it possible to predict the solid waste generated in lodging establishments, which facilitates the development of management strategies.