Brazil Logistics System for Consumer Electronics
In 2019, Brazil produced more than two million tons of electronic waste making it the fifth largest producer of electronic waste globally, according to a report published by non-profit Green Eletron and research company Radar Pesquisas.
Less than three percent of this waste was recycled and a third of the people surveyed said they had never heard of waste collection and disposal locations for electronic products. Recent legislation creates opportunities for U.S. companies in the recycling and reverse logistics market, and electronic manufacturers should be are aware of what is now required to sell to the Brazilian market.
Article 33 of Law 12305, which created Brazil’s National Policy for Solid Waste in 2010, states that manufacturers, importers, distributors, and resellers of electronics products and their parts must create and implement a reverse logistic system allowing consumers to return the electronics, rather than using public garbage disposal services. In 2020, the federal government defined standards and an overall structure for the implementation of the law in connection with the program “Lixao Zero,” which aims to eliminate dumpsites in the country and help cities adequately dispose of their solid waste.
An additional decree requires that manufacturers and importers abide by a set of rules, including participating in a reverse logistics system as a conformity requirement to import and sell electronics products in the country. By 2025, 17% of electronics products and parts must be collected and properly recycled according to the decree, with goals for future years to be published gradually in future regulations. These regulations will be reviewed by the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Environment, and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA).
By 2025 more than 400 Brazilian cities will have electronic waste volunteer collection points, including major cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Curitiba, Campo Grande, and Fortaleza. In 2021, the Ministry of Environment announced that more than 1,900 collection points were installed in the country during the first year of the program. Current Brazilian law requires that, by 2025, collection points should be installed in accordance with the number of inhabitants in each municipality.
Recently, the Brazilian Senate passed a bill that creates fiscal incentives for the recycling industry and creates a support fund, Favorecicle, and an investment fund, ProRecicle, for recycling projects. Additionally, the new law creates mechanisms to deduct values spent with recycling projects from income taxes, with a limit of up to one percent for companies and 6 percent for individuals.
Implementing a reverse logistics system in Brazil is very challenging and costly, therefore companies tend to establish relationships with management entities that provide reliable and accurate services.
For more information please contact the U.S. Commercial Service in Brazil. Patricia Marega, ICT Specialist
Thales Demarchi, Environmental Technologies Specialist.