15 Years After the National Solid Waste Policy in the City of São Paulo: Have There Been Advances in the Recycling of Household Solid Waste?

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and the second in Latin America. Its domestic waste production reached 3,515,678.96 tons in 2024. Historically, the city has a low recycling rate and several laws and policies have been implemented to reverse this situation. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there have been advances in the recycling of household solid waste in São Paulo 15 years after the National Solid Waste Policy, analyzing the period between 2006 and 2024. The methodology consisted of a longitudinal case study with analysis of legislation, official data from SP Regula, legislative documents, research, and evaluation of the fulfillment of the goals of the Integrated Management Plan (MISWMP) of 2014, and search for socio-spatial correlations. The results indicate that the selective collection rate grew from 0.69% in 2006 to 2.85% in 2024, but this volume represents less than 10% of the target originally projected for the period. A socio-spatial inequality was found, with higher recovery rates in central areas and rates below 1% in the peripheries, and a lack of dedicated collection for the organic fraction, which makes up 46.90% of the gravimetric flow. It is concluded that progress is incremental but limited by structural barriers and urban inequities. It proposes the fiscal sustainability of the system, the implementation of pilot projects for organic waste and the improvement of data transparency to enable the goals of decarbonization and universalization of services.