Questão 39 - UFSM PSS Prova 2 - Manhã 2025

Leia o texto a seguir para responder à questão

 

Made in Latin America – innovations for sustainable living that could change the world

 

[01] A treasure inside avocados

    Scott Munguía produces bioplastics from avocado seeds. This young Mexican chemical engineer discovered

in 2011 that the avocado seed contains a biopolymer similar to the one present in corn, which is used
to produce bioplastic. In 2014, he founded Biofase, a company based in Monterrey that commercializes

[05] bioplastic products, made of 60 per cent avocado biopolymer and 40 per cent synthetic organic compounds.

    The straws and cutlery made from avocado seeds degrade in only 240 days, and there is no need
for incineration. 

    Biofase’s products have a great manufacturing potential. According to Munguía, 300 000 tonnes of avocado

seeds are discarded annually in Mexico, an estimated 20 per cent of the global demand for bioplastics.

[10]    Unlike other types of bioplastics, this alternative does not use crops suitable for human consumption –
such as corn or cassava. 

    “Bioplastics must be sustainable. How can you make bioplastic from food? There are so many people
starving and there is so much trouble around the cost of corn […], we should not take food away from
people,” Munguía said.

 

[15] Water-soluble bags

    One million plastic bags are consumed every minute worldwide. Most of them end up in landfills or in the
oceans. The one-piece polyethylene shopping bag, created in the 1960s, takes up to 500 years to degrade.

    So when Roberto Astete and Cristian Olivares, founders of Chilean start-up Solubag, presented a plastic
bag which dissolves in water in just a few minutes, they raised many eyebrows. 

[20]    “The bag completely dissolves in water, with no harm. You can even drink the water, as it has no
chemicals,” said Cristian Olivares, the company’s commercial manager.

    The secret? According to Olivares, Solubags uses limestone instead of oil by-products. That is why they
have zero environmental impact compared to other alternatives like oxo-biodegradable bags, which are still
made of polyethylene and break into small pieces of toxic plastic.

[25] Their innovation is expected to be widely accepted in Chile, where a ban on plastic bags in large businesses
came into force in February 2019. 

 

A home for a sustainable lifestyle

    Our energy consumption depends directly on the conditions of ventilation, temperature and light in our homes.

    In the coming years, the construction sector must embrace these variables in order to increase energy

[30] efficiency and accelerate climate action. Currently, the buildings sector accounts for a significant 39 per cent
of total energy-related CO2 emissions, according to The 2018 Global Status Report.

    With this challenge in mind, a group of students, graduates and professors from the ORT University
Uruguay created La Casa Uruguaya (The Uruguayan House), a sustainable and intelligent housing project
inspired from bioclimatic architecture and equipped with technology that can reduce energy consumption

[35] while offering a sustainable and accessible lifestyle.

    The living unit consists of a house inside a box, according to the ORT University Uruguay. The insulation
prevents heat and cold from entering. It has two ceilings – one on top of the other – and, between the two,
moving parts that can be remotely opened or closed in order to regulate indoor temperature. Windows are
strategically located to improve lighting.

[40]    The house is self-supplied with solar energy, notifies inhabitants of energy misuses, has a water reuse
system, and sensors that help to regulate temperature, humidity or lighting. The unit can be installed in only
15 days and costs between US$ 50 000 and US$ 90 000.

Fonte: UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT. Made in Latin America – four innovations for sustainable living that could change the world. Publicado em: 09 mar. 2019. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 06 ago. 2024. (Adaptado).

Sobre as inovações para a sustentabilidade “made in Latin America” apresentadas no texto, assinale V (verdadeiro) ou F (falso) em cada afirmativa a seguir.

 

( ) O bioplástico de sementes de abacate é mais sustentável que outros bioplásticos, porque não é produzido a partir de alimentos como milho e mandioca.

( ) A sacola solúvel em água é produzida a partir de óleo reciclado e por isso tem impacto ambiental zero.

( ) A “La casa Uruguaya” é uma casa inteligente que avisa os moradores sobre o desperdício de energia.

 

A sequência correta é