Abstract
Safe disposal of pesticide waste is a concern that has been studied in recent years. Disposal through traditional means, such as incineration, it’s too expensive to farmers. Inexpensive and safe methods have been developed in European countries, and being spread around the world. In Brazil, experiments with the use of bioreactors for the management of pesticide waste started four years ago, seeking to evaluate efficiency of systems for safety disposal of pesticide effluents, its recommendation for official use by the Brazilian government with international recognition, and besides its efficiency as a safety system to the environment, rural workers and food products from Brazil. Results obtained in this period indicate that, under Brazilian environmental conditions, some structural changes in relation to biobed are required, if we consider European standard, for maintaining similar efficiency in the system. In addition, it is necessary to continue the project to increase the number of pesticides evaluated by the system and substrate options, especially different types of straw and new sources of organic matter, replacing peat. The conclusions of these experiments are that the bioreactors in Brazil must be deeper (at least 1.0 m deep), compared to similar in Europe (0.5 m), ensuring moisture in the sample profile, but without excess of injury heat and lack aeration. In addition, they must have coverage, preferably translucent, to prevent rain water accumulation inside, but allowing the planting of grasses to keep evapotranspiration, and finally, use the European standard substrate, with composition of two wheat straw parts, one part of agricultural land and one part of peat, until new tests.
