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The URE Barueri plant, the pioneer in Latin America, will convert waste into renewable energy from 2027, with the capacity to supply 75,000 homes annually and reduce environmental impacts using sustainable technology.
With the capacity to supply 75,000 homes annually, the plant that will convert waste into renewable energy is supposed to start operating in the first quarter of 2027 in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area. The Baruiri Energy Recovery (URE) Unit, in the final stages of construction, is a pioneer in Brazil and Latin America in the use of technology that burns urban solid waste (MSW) in a controlled manner.
Heat treatment in Mass burning The waste used by the corporation consists of burning municipal solid waste at temperatures above 850°C. This process, which includes advanced filtration systems, prevents pollution, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and ensures reliable operation in line with international health and environmental standards, assesses Orizon Group Engineering Director, Jorge Elias.
URE Barueri, made possible thanks to a partnership between the group and the Basic Sanitation Company of São Paulo State (Sabesp), was created after an auction conducted by the federal government and has an area of approximately 37 thousand square meters – a little more than 5 football fields. Its installed capacity will reach 20 megawatts, with an average export of 16 megawatts on a stable basis.
Thus, up to 870 tons of urban solid waste can be adequately treated daily. “When we look at the Brazilian scenario today, the issue of wind and photovoltaics (power plants) has become quite popular. It is a type of power generation that I really like, but it is always intermittent. This causes volatility in this type of generation. Generation from urban solid waste is distributed, programmable and predictable,” Elias explains.
In addition to reducing the volume of waste in landfills, other benefits include reducing truck traffic and reusing ash generated from civil construction, the executive says.
The current phase of work on the project includes equipment assembly, which began in July and is expected to be completed by September 2026, with commercial operations scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
The company intends to expand the model. However, since URE Barueri was born from a partnership with the city council, the plant will prioritize the city’s requirements, which must send the waste after a sorting process, separating the recyclables and directing them to cooperatives.
“The waste portion of the organic portion, when the plant starts operating, will begin receiving all solid waste from Baruiri municipality,” Elias continues. “There are many other municipalities interested (in installing similar plants) and it would be very welcome, (…) but always with the thermal treatment of Barori waste as a priority.”
“It is a sanitation solution with electricity generation. It brings benefits to the community in terms of public health, municipal interests and environmental issues. We prefer this kind of situation and now, with city councils pursuing the energy transition and decarbonisation of public transport, a project like URE could also become an interesting supply hub,” he adds.
Energy from waste
China, the world leader in this sector, has the total capacity to burn nearly one million tons of waste per day to convert it into energy. In Europe, energy recovery plants process more than 100 million tons of municipal solid waste annually, representing 26% of the total.
Latin America does not yet have any such plant in operation. In Brazil, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) claims to “carefully” monitor the development of waste technologies-to-energy (Weight of waste – Converting waste into energyin English) – any waste processing technologies aimed at recovering energy in the form of heat, electricity or alternative fuels.
to landThe ministry said it was examining the potential contribution of WtE “both in diversifying the national electrical matrix and in sustainable waste management.” “This alternative presents itself as a source of transition and is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to promote a just, sustainable and inclusive energy transition, in line with the guidelines of the National Energy Transition Plan (PNTE),” the ministry says.
For the Brazilian Waste Energy Association (ABRIN), the waste-to-energy model is useful, but Brazil is still at the beginning of its journey in this sector. In addition to URE Barueri, Abrin has very advanced projects planned in the capital city of São Paulo, expected to become operational in 2028, and in Maua (SP), Seropedica (RJ), Brasilia (DF) and Campinas (SP).
“These projects represent the transition from a model based on landfills to a modern system integrated with recycling, composting and energy recovery, just as is happening in countries pioneering the circular economy,” says Yuri Shmetky, president of the association.
According to the association, UREs can play a critical role in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially methane released from the decomposition of waste in landfills. Studies conducted by the association indicate that expanding these plants in Brazil to serve 49% of the population could avoid up to 86 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, contributing directly to the Paris Agreement and the National Plan on Climate Change.
The main barriers to expansion of this type of plant are the regulatory framework and contractual predictability. “Brazil lacks a mechanism allowing the purchase of energy generated from URE, similar to what happens in EU countries and China,” he said, citing the approval of bills such as PNRE (PL 924/2022) and Methane Zero (PL 3,311/2025) as essential to create legal certainty, attract investments and accelerate the growth of the sector.
There are also institutional challenges, such as structuring public-private partnerships and municipal concessions, as well as cultural challenges, due to what Abrin calls “misinformation about plant operation”: As he points out with traditional thermal power plants, the term “waste incineration” is initially scary.
“Each urban area is a center for regional development. In addition to clean energy, it generates qualified jobs in engineering, maintenance and operation, as well as transportation of equipment production chains and civil construction. Planned investments until 2040 could exceed R$50 billion, with a direct impact on income generation, technological innovation and strengthening of national industry. If the full potential of serving the 28 urban areas with a population of more than one million inhabitants (49% of national municipal solid waste) is reached, it will be possible to generate 200 thousand jobs. In the value chain,” Schmidtke concludes.
Positive balance
José Antonio Perrilla Balestreri, professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Science at the Guaratinguita Campus of the Universidad Paulista University (Unesp), highlights that although its electrical efficiency is lower (about 35 or 40% lower, in steam units that burn metallurgical coal) than conventional thermoelectric plants, the waste-to-energy model compensates for the thermal use (which can be up to 85%, in addition to the electricity generated), as well as lower environmental impacts. impact.
“People still associate the word ‘incineration’ with outdated and highly inefficient processes that produce highly toxic air emissions, and that is not the current technological reality. Waste-to-energy plants are currently an important alternative for urban solid waste management, so much so that major cities classified as ‘sustainable’ have one or more of these units – Copenhagen, for example, in Denmark, has one, and Paris, in France, has three.”
He asked about the report If there are risks of this form to neighboring residents, if filtration or pollution control systems fail, the professor states that no human technology is risk-free and that “any thermal device or machine involving combustion may pose a risk.” However, “there are control loops, a highly specialized engineering area, intended to monitor operations and, in the event of catastrophic disturbances, correct the course or cancel the operation.”
For Balisteri, plants like URE, when integrated into recycling and composting policies, significantly reduce reliance on landfills, improve energy use and represent a tangible solution to the transition to more modern and sustainable waste management.
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