Brazil collects 94% of agchem packages

The National Solid Waste Policy of Brazil, enacted in 2010, has determined the industry itself take care of the waste it produces. This also includes agrochemical industry, which up to now collected 94% of packaging it produces.

 

According to the National Institute for Processing Empty Packages (inpEV), until June of 2014 over 300,000 tons of empty packages of agrochemicals were sent to the environmentally correct destination. Only in the first half of this year, the Clean Field System followed over 22,000 tons of material. The volume is 7% larger compared to the same period of 2013. The largest cargo were came from the states of Mato Grosso, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, and Minas Gerais. All together they corresponded to 70% of the total empty packages take from the field in Brazil.

 

The chief executive of inpEV, João César Rando, noted that this was only possible because all the links of the chain were put together, from the manufacturers and farmers to the associations.

 

Since 2002, the industry contribution was over R$ 700 million to make the Clean Field System feasible. "The producers has the cost of bringing back the packages, which is around 3% to 4% of the total. The cooperatives need to offer and manage the warehouses, which is nearly 15% of the total cost. The remaining 80% are financed by the industry because it is who has the responsibility", said Rando.

 

In the case of agrochemical packages, approximately 40% of the cost are reverted by the system itself. Rando explains that there already is a claim for the governments that they should exempt the reverse logistics chain of taxes and fees.