The development of indexes for human development and environmental sustainability issues are an emerging topic in the current literature. However, the literature has put less emphasis on municipal indexes, which is the focus of this research. In this paper, we considered municipal environmental management as the adoption of environmental activities and the development of infrastructural and technical capacities in municipalities. This article aims to create a sustainable human development index with municipal data from the state of São Paulo in Brazil. Using information from the Municipal Human Development Index (IDHm) and the GreenBlue Municipal Program (PMVA), we applied the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to connect human development and environmental sustainability in 645 Brazilian municipalities. Our findings show that regions with higher human development present better DEA scores on the Sustainable Human Development Index. In contrast, regions with a low or a middle level of human development do not present significant change considering both dimensions. Moreover, our findings reveal that PMVA certification has a different and statistically significant impact on the DEA score considering certified, qualified, or not qualified regions. We found similar results for urbanized and service-oriented municipalities. Our indicator is an essential and straightforward tool for regional policymakers, helping to allocate resources and to find human development and environmental sustainability benchmarks among developing regions.

Nutrient bioremediation processes in wastewater are becoming a prevalent focus of research, with microalgae emerging as prominent players. Such microorganisms provide a compelling alternative to traditional sanitation approaches. In light of this emerging interest, the main objective of this study was to explore diverse growth conditions of a native microalgae-bacteria consortium in domestic wastewater, aiming at nutrient bioremediation and biomass production. The investigation was performed on a laboratory scale through Schott® 2.0 L glass bottle photobioreactors, utilizing anaerobically digested wastewater to mitigate its polluting potential effectively. At first, the impact of increasing inflow of CO2 was evaluated. It was found that the addition of 5% CO2 yielded the most favorable outcomes, with the remarkable 96.5% of total phosphorus removal within four days alongside a biomass production rate of 0.04 g.L-1.d-1. In later steps, variations in light intensity were analyzed, and with 304±3 μmol.m-2.s-1, yielded the most promising results, with total phosphorus removal of 97.1% within two days and biomass production rate of 0.31 g.L-1.d-1. Finally, the influence of temperature was assessed, uncovering 97.2% total phosphorus removal within two days, complemented by a biomass production rate of 0.29 g.L-1.d-1. These results facilitated the development of a surface model illustrating the intricate relationship between light and temperature for this consortium. Furthermore, the consortium exhibited remarkable proficiency in nutrient removal from anaerobically digested wastewater, showcasing noteworthy resilience to temperature and light intensity fluctuations.

This study evaluated the performance of a non-aerated 22 L column photobioreactor treating synthetic wastewater (SWW) under increasing organic loading rates (SWW x1, x2, and x3) at a hydraulic retention time of 2 days to investigate how purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) inoculation timing affects operational stability and nutrient removal. Two strategies were compared: supplementing a microalgae–bacteria consortium with PPB after 15 days (Phase I) versus co-inoculation from startup (Phase II). Phase I maintained active photosynthesis, reaching dissolved oxygen (DO) levels of 14.7 ± 3.8 mg L⁻¹ in SWW x2. Conversely, Phase II sustained persistently low DO (<1.5 mg L⁻¹), which correlated with reduced inorganic carbon fixation and raised effluent inorganic carbon to 205.2 mg L⁻¹ under SWW x3. The highest load (SWW x3) also induced orthophosphate accumulation and elevated ammonium levels up to 150 mg L⁻¹ due to nitrogenase suppression. Phase II also exhibited a higher nitrite accumulation (approx. 10 mg L⁻¹) with minimal nitrate (<3 mg L⁻¹), suggesting impaired nitrifying activity. In conclusion, the early PPB co-inoculation strategy established a distinct microbial community trajectory that favored a sub-optimized, dissipative metabolic regime that impaired carbon fixation and resource recovery under high loading rates.