Brazil recycles 94% of crop protection packaging on the market

Brazil is a world reference for recycling pesticide packaging – 94% of packaging placed on the market is recycled, transformed again into the same product or incinerated at an appropriate place.

″By way of comparison, in 1999, 50% of empty crop protection packages were donated or sold without control, 25% went for open-air burning, 10% were stored outdoors and 15% were abandoned,″ pointed out the Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite.

The National Institute for the Processing of Empty Packaging (Inpev) is responsible for integrating the entire agricultural chain, from product manufacturers to farmers, through the Campo Limpo System, ensuring an environmentally correct destination for almost all primary plastic packaging sold. The system has processed and correctly disposed of 650,000 tons of pesticide packaging since 2002. For Joaquim Leite, it is a successful case within the Brazilian Reverse Logistics Policy and as an example to the world.

″A model to be followed is that of the agricultural pesticides industry, where rural producers, manufacturers, resellers and recyclers have been working together for more than 20 years to guarantee virtually the total return of the packaging used, as a result of environmentally correct work,″ he stated.

The benefits to the environment are numerous. For example, the reverse packaging logistics program, for example, avoided the emission of 899,000 tons of greenhouse gases between 2002 and 2021, which corresponds to more than 15,000 thousand trips around the earth by truck. Furthermore, if this carbon dioxide emission had taken place, it would be necessary to plant 6.5 million trees to compensate. Recycling also impacts energy savings, which since 2002 has avoided the consumption of 36 billion megajoules of energy, which would be enough to supply electricity to 5.2 million homes for a year.

The program has 411 central units and collection points for pesticide packaging that serves 1.8 million farmers across the country, with more than 4,000 itinerant locations to receive the material. This was released last week, during an event promoted by the Ministry of the Environment in which records were announced in the scope of reverse logistics.

If disposed of incorrectly, agricultural pesticide packaging can lead to soil, water and air contamination, negatively impacting the environment and human health. Consumers must return packages, lids and leftover pesticides to the commercial establishments indicated on the invoice for environmentally appropriate disposal.

Clean Field System

The Campo Limpo System is the Brazilian program for reverse logistics of empty packaging and post-consumption leftovers of agricultural pesticides. It is based on the principle of shared responsibilities among all links in the production chain to return materials. The system generates more than 1,500 direct and formal jobs, and more than 260 resale and cooperative associations are part of it. ″The results and contributions that the Campo Limpo System, the reverse logistics of post-consumer pesticide packaging, brings to the environment and Brazilian society are the result of the efforts and integration of the farmer, distributor, and manufacturer with the support of the public sector. The sector represents about 100% of the packaging that goes to the field, plus entities that represent all links in the production chain,″ explained João Rando, President of Inpev.