With excess garbage, Ubatuba will charge tourists a fee to deal with the problem

In addition to the lowest rate of sewage collection on the coast of São Paulo (54%), Ubatuba suffers from a chronic problem of excess garbage during the summer and on long holidays. To get around it, the city government will charge this year a daily fee for tourist vehicles.

This season, especially at the turn of the year, Ubatuba spent several days with huge amounts of garbage scattered along the streets, beaches and on the most touristic edges of the city, such as Praia Grande and Itaguá, where restaurants and shops are concentrated.

Complaints from tourists, residents and environmental entities in the city frequently occur in the seasons, in the sense that the accumulation of waste is predictable at these times, and that there would not be adequate planning to deal with the problem.

Ubatuba produces 42,000 tons of garbage annually, 25% concentrated in December and January, according to the city hall. During the period, the city of 93,000 inhabitants on the north coast, with around 100 beaches, has multiplied its population several times – which reaches 500,000 at the turn of the year.

In a preview released by the Municipal Secretariat of Finance and Planning, the city of Ubatuba ended 2022 with revenue of R$ 524 million. To deal with garbage, health waste and public cleaning, R$ 36 million were spent, or 7% of revenue. In Santos, according to the city hall, the same services consume 5.2% of revenue (R$ 3.4 billion).

According to Ubatuba’s Environment Secretary, Guilherme Adolpho, of the total amount spent on garbage in the city, only R$ 16 million is covered by a specific municipal fee. “The difference, which could go to schools, goes to waste.”

The expense with garbage in Ubatuba is not expensive just because of the collection. There is huge extra expense to transport it out of town. All waste goes up the mountain and is taken to a landfill in Jambeiro, 128 km from Ubatuba.

According to Adolpho, between 10 and 15 trucks make the round trip every day, and the city’s goal is to have, in the future, a well-prepared landfill that will reduce this cost, in addition to more disposal points.

To finance this, Ubatuba is instituting the TPA (Environmental Preservation Fee), which will charge daily for vehicles with license plates outside of Ubatuba (and neighboring cities) that enter the city. The goal is to raise about R$ 15 million annually.

For passenger cars, the rate will be R$ 13 per day; for vans, R$39; for buses, R$ 92. Residents and property owners in Ubatuba with vehicles licensed in other municipalities are already registering for exemption.

In order to operationalize the collection, the city hall is installing cameras on the roads that give access to the city to register vehicle plates.

Payment can be made through advance purchases of daily rates on the City Hall website, through TAGs attached to vehicle windows (as in tolls) or after the driver leaves the city, through an application, among other options.

After the 30-day period, defaulters will be included in the municipality’s active debt, which may be collected by legal means.