Brazil is not a country of recyclers. According to the Waste Atlas, an initiative developed by global consultancy firm D-Waste, the country as a whole only recycles one percent of its waste. China, on the other hand, recycles 30 percent; Germany recycles 47 percent. Brazil’s major cities are above the national average, but are still far from ideal levels. The capital city of Brasilia recycles 5.9 percent of its trash; the country’s largest city, São Paulo, recycles just 2.5 percent. In Rio de Janeiro, however, the concern with recycling is even more pressing.
The city generates approximately 3.5...
