Industry anticipates agreement on waste

Source: Valor Econômico

While the reverse logistics model for the country awaits government approval, industries that manufacture or use packaging move with recycling strategies, actions and isolated goals, in search of economic gains and efficiency in production processes. “In our business, recycling is key to competitiveness”, argues Rogério Almeida, vice-president of operations at Novelis, the only supplier of aluminum sheets for beverage cans in the country.

Regardless of what will be resolved in the agreement between the different sectors and the government, the company's objective for 2020 is to increase the content of recycled raw materials in products from 57% to 80%, reducing dependence on primary mineral resources.

The company annually produces around 400 tons of sheets, with an expectation of 50% growth from the current expansion of its industrial unit located in Piracicaba (SP), in which US$ 400 million was invested. The expansion incorporated the need for new actions to increase recycled raw material and use of natural gas. Recycling allows for a 95% reduction in energy consumption compared to using primary aluminum.

The country produced 21,1 billion beverage cans in 2012, one hundred units per inhabitant. The production capacity is 27 billion, according to data from Abralatas, an association that groups manufacturers in the sector. Of the total placed on the market, 97,9% is collected after consumption of the drink and somehow returns to the industries – more than half replenishes Novelis.

The index places the country in the world leadership in the recovery of cans, ahead of Japan, with a difference: the speed of the cycle between production and return, which takes between 30 and 40 days. The reasons are, among other aspects, the attractive price of scrap, which behaves based on the fluctuations of the commodity in the international market, and the social reality of the country, with the existence of a large contingent of collectors who depend on the activity for their livelihood. of their families.

The regulatory environment and the companies' actions, within specific recycling programs, have the potential to keep the numbers at this comfortable level, even in the scenario of increased production, with a greater amount of packaging on the market. However, the delay in final approval of the sectoral agreement on reverse logistics delays broader investments and initiatives.

Despite the privileged situation in relation to cans, the country may increase scrap imports to support industrial expansion and business goals. “It is strategic to cover supply seasonality problems”, explains Almeida. In the winter period, when beverage consumption is lower, there is less scrap available on the domestic market. “To avoid risks and maintain a continuous supply, the company will look for new sources of recycled raw material, which are more difficult to process, such as aluminum pans”, reveals Almeida.

“The goals must be ambitious, but long-term”, recommends Marco Simões, Vice President of Communication and Sustainability at Coca-Cola Brazil. By 2020, the company intends to recover all of its packaging, avoiding disposal in landfills and inappropriate disposal sites after consumption of beverages.

"The trend is for post-consumption input not to be restricted to the goals plan and to become business", says the executive. The objective includes the continuous expansion of the use of recycled PET resin in packaging until 100% of the portfolio is converted. One challenge is to increase the scale of transformation of scrap PET bottles into new bottles, in the system known as “bottle-to-bottle”, currently restricted to some lines of the company's products. It is also planned to use plastic resin from a renewable source in all products over the next six years.

In the case of Ambev, technology made it possible to take a leap forward with the launch, in 2012, of bottles with fully recycled PET – and not just containing a percentage of raw material obtained from post-consumer bottles. Due to this initiative, 8,2 thousand tons of virgin plastic resin derived from petroleum were saved last year. By the end of this year, the goal is to expand the novelty to the entire portfolio. “Innovation increased the demand for recycled raw material, adding value to waste and benefiting the entire recycling chain”, evaluates Simone Veltri, socio-environmental relations manager. Every five tons of this new PET frees up space of 30 cubic meters in landfills, with cost reduction and environmental impact.

“Advances also depend on public policies and consumer habits”, points out Fernando von Zuben, director of the environment at Tetra Pak, whose factory in Monte Mor (SP) has the capacity to produce 8 billion long-life packages per year. The manufacturer's plan is to increase, by 2020, from the current 31% to 44% the recovery rate of boxes of juice, milk and other foods that it puts on the market.

The Brazilian target is more ambitious than the one adopted globally by the company, which is 40%, indicative of the country's position as one of the pioneers in the formation of production chains for the recycling of these packages. “The fulfillment of the environmental objectives, including the return of the packaging to the productive activity, weighs in the calculation of the bonus of the employees at the end of the year”, he says.