Gestão de resíduos domiciliares durante a pandemia da COVID-19: uma análise preliminar sob a perspectiva da psicologia ambiental

Abstract

The issue of urban solid waste (USW) can be related to two main aspects: a mass and disorderly migration of the population from rural areas to the urban region, to the capitalist model based on the production of goods from the exploitation of natural resources in an indiscriminate way, consumption and disposal. Recognition of the seriousness of environmental and public health problems related to the management of USW emerged from the 1970s, when there was a global mobilization about the global environmental crisis and the finitude of natural resources. Currently, the issue of USW management has remained a major challenge in the 21st century worldwide, and especially in developing countries. There has been no Brazil, in the last ten years, an increase in the generation of USW and at the same time compliance with the guidelines of the National Policy on Solid Waste by public managers and other social actors is a major challenge. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic scenario, the governments and authorities of each country outlined that they included, mainly, the restriction of the movement of people, which changed the routine, purchase patterns, consumption and management of USW and household waste. An immediate action to contain the transmission of Covid-19 among professionals who work in the management of USW was the suspension of the selective collection service in several Brazilian cities and states. In this context, this study focused on the problem of managing the household waste from the perspective of Environmental Psychology, with an emphasis on the person-environment relationship, during the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to address possible changes in the management of the household waste from the changes in routines caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the bibliographic survey of data and research on the impacts of the generation and management of household waste during the pandemic, an online questionnaire was developed, consisting of 42 items in order to investigate whether the change in family routines changed the management of household waste during the pandemic period. A total of 372 people participated in the survey, with an average age of 35.5 years, most of them 75.8% (282) from the state of Sergipe. The results showed that there was an increase in the generation of household waste, in delivery-type purchases, in the amount of meals prepared and eaten at home when comparing the periods before and during the pandemic. A discrepancy was identified between concern with environmental problems, risk perception between inadequate disposal of waste associated with the emergence of new diseases, low adherence to actions aimed at improving the management of household waste and a low fear of being infected by Covid- 19 when manipulating the household waste. It is believed that the results of this study, analyzed from the psychological barriers, present relevant information about household waste management, due to the gravity of the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, as it is a serious environmental crisis, which triggered a series of problems in public, economic and social health, with strong impacts also on the management of USW. Finally, it is suggested that more in-depth studies be carried out on the generation of household waste that focus on environmental perception, ecological analysis, influence of psychological aspects in the person-environment relationship, in order to favor/provoke actions focused on the context, with participation active role of social actors and respecting the specificities of each location.