CARACTERIZAÇÃO E DELIMITAÇÃO DE DEPÓSITOS IRREGULARES DE LIXO DO MUNICÍPIO DE SÃO LUÍS – MA

One of the most serious problems facing humanity is urban waste. In Maranhão, especially in São Luís, capital of the State, it is observed that the issue of garbage due to the intense and uncontrolled urbanization process, has been causing changes both quantitatively and qualitatively in the balance of local environmental resources. In view of the above, this work aimed to delimit the places with irregular accumulation of garbage, in neighborhoods of the city of São Luís - MA. The methodology of the work was based on data collection in the field, in order to precisely mark the points of irregular disposal of garbage, in some neighborhoods of the capital of Maranhão. The selected locations were: Renascença, São Francisco, Ponta D’areia, Cohafuma, Vinhais, Recanto Vinhais, Alto do Calhau, Angelim, Turu and Cohatrac IV. Through on-site visits, 58 points of irregular deposition of solid waste were recorded. It was observed that the neighborhoods with the most identified points were Renascença (16 points), São Francisco (10 points) and Vinhais (08), which can be explained by the fact that they are the largest neighborhoods in territorial extension of the municipality and those of larger population. The municipality of São Luís - MA was weakened by the lack of effective actions in its Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (PGIRS). The lack of environmental education programs focused on Urban Solid Waste that guide the population about the problems that the irregular disposal of waste brings, both for health and for the environment, are recurring problems and setbacks of knowledge of State managers.