Out with the old: Solid waste management changes in Brazil

Solid waste management in Brazil is a topic of great interest to many international corporations with facilities in South America. The country’s current legislation around solid waste management is comparatively “behind the times”, having not been updated in over a decade, but with the latest proposals under discussion, this is likely to change soon.

In this article, EHS & Sustainability Consultant Fernanda Negrão Pereira examines the current state of Brazil’s solid waste management regulations, as well as the latest proposals that could make significant changes to companies’ obligations.

The current state of solid waste management in Brazil

Before examining the recent proposals and discussions around solid waste management in Brazil, it’s important to understand the context of what brought the country to its current state.

2010: PNRS

Federal Law 12.305 of 2 August 2010 marked a significant milestone in Brazil’s environmental efforts, introducing the innovative National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS). In line with global sustainability trends expressed in international commitments at the time, such as Agenda 21, which resulted from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (also known as the Earth Summit, or Rio Eco-92), the PNRS came in response to the growing awareness of the need for efficient and sustainable waste management, considering its negative environmental and social impacts.

This pioneering policy — the first of its kind in the country — set comprehensive guidelines for managing solid waste, strongly emphasizing responsible waste disposal, reuse, recycling, and reduction. Its establishment was a testament to Brazil’s forward-thinking approach to tackling the mounting waste crisis.

2022: Decree 10.936

While the PNRS establishes principles, objectives and guidelines for the management and administration of solid waste (with reduction targets and proper disposal, for example), Decree 10.936 of 12 January 2022, which institutes the National Solid Waste Plan (PLANARES), serves a crucial purpose in regulating and implementing the PNRS effectively. By outlining guidelines for the integrated management and responsible disposal of solid waste, its primary objective is to curb solid waste generation and promote sustainable practices. To fully realize its potential, the decree adopts circular economy principles, proper waste sorting and recycling, and establishing a shared responsibility among consumers, producers, and the government, as previously provided for in the PNRS.

This scenario undoubtedly shows Brazil’s commitment to sustainable waste management and environmental and human health protection, mainly through awareness-raising and fostering collaborations with the public sector, companies, and citizens. Such an inclusive approach makes everyone feel not only part of the solution, but also responsible for developing waste management in the country.

Since the PNRS was launched, several supporting laws, regulations, and policies have been implemented at the Municipal, State, and Federal levels. For example, policies encouraging companies to replace single-use plastic items, such as straws, cups, and so on, were approved in major capitals such as São Paulo and, more recently, in June of this year, a new National Circular Economy Strategy was adopted to promote the transition from a linear production model to a circular economy.

Unfortunately, what should have been a positive sign of the country’s growing awareness has proven ineffective — 14 years after the PNRS was launched, the government still has much room for improvement and faces more significant challenges:

• The country is still one of the great polluters of solid waste — according to the 2023 report by the Brazilian Association of Waste and Environment (ABREMA), around 33 million tons of waste had environmentally inappropriate destinations in Brazil in 2022
• There are still several landfills without any type of environmental control in place in the country, although the PNRS provided for their elimination and recovery by August 2024 to replace them with more sustainable alternatives
• Brazil still doesn’t have a cohesive and coherent national policy to address the enormous production of waste originating from single-use plastics. This situation is problematic since it is well known that the generation of tons of waste from the use of such plastics is one of the biggest factors of current pollution, and how municipalities and states choose to address the problem according to their regional infrastructure can lead to a legislative confusion and not produce the desired results

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, although Europe also faces some challenges related to the implementation and fulfilment of the goals set to combat climate change, its results have been more positive and bring some hope, as demonstrated in the EU report published in 2023.

Solid waste management is set for a change

The European framework for solid waste management stands as a beacon of inspiration, as led by the European Green Deal established in 2019. Its sustainable practices are a testament to what can be achieved in waste management and a source of inspiration for the whole world to work towards reducing harm to environmental or human health and consumption of natural resources. At the same time, EU Member States have disseminated many good practices and approaches to waste management into their national legislation and implemented necessary measures to maintain compliance.

This rich framework continually evolves through policies, directives, and regulations, focusing mainly on adopting an EU Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) that emphasizes waste prevention, empowering consumers and buyers, and ensuring the regular use and recycling of more sustainable products.

Recent additions include:

• The Single-Use Plastics Directive, which ensures that plastic waste generation will be reduced in favor of a cleaner continent
• The Landfill Directive, which aims to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfills while promoting better treatment of waste and ensuring a minimal environmental impact

Although the ongoing evaluation of the actions taken in the context of these European policies, directives, and regulations has shown a number of advances and good practices, these positive results don’t prevent measures from being taken in the event of possible setbacks. Adjustments to the objectives and deadlines for their implementation are more than welcome and necessary to adapt them to current circumstances, since the challenges surrounding solid waste management are an increasingly serious environmental problem.

For no other reason, the European Commission is currently reviewing the Waste Framework Directive. It aims to set stricter waste reduction targets, such as increasing recycling rates and further limiting the use of single-use products. If approved, this would mean increasing the costs for companies to adapt their operations to reduce their waste-generation production process, redesign product packing to use recycled materials, and minimize plastic use.

As Brazil and many other developing countries face challenges in waste management, mainly due to population growth and limited infrastructure, three main lessons from the European Circular Economy model emerged as improvements that could be applied to countries facing similar problems:

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

The EPR system establishes a producer responsibility principle to make manufacturers, importers, and distributors responsible and engaged in reducing environmental impacts through recycling and reuse of product packaging.

Advanced recycling infrastructure (waste-to-energy)

Investing in waste-to-energy technologies can be a game-changer. It reduces reliance on landfills and increases energy generation from solid waste. It also positively impacts waste sorting, as proper separation is necessary to select the sources used to generate bioenergy.

Circular economy business

Promoting the adoption of business models focused on circular economy principles where companies prioritize circular practices, such as sharing and refurbishing.

These measures could have a profound impact on companies, for example:

• By taking greater responsibility for the lifecycle of their products (EPR) companies will not only reduce their environmental footprint, but also drive innovation in sustainable packaging and product design, resulting in an expected allocation of financial resources
• Investing in waste-to-energy technologies and infrastructure can reduce operational costs related to waste management in the long run, as it will simultaneously generate additional revenue from the energy generated

Adopting circular economy business models will foster new revenue streams, increase resource efficiency, and enhance reputation, positioning companies as sustainability leaders

Looking to the future of waste management in Brazil

Brazil has started to take significant steps toward solid waste management problems. Still, it has yet to pass more cohesive and comprehensive nationwide legislation that would effectively change the current scenario and the bad predictions for the future. If lessons are learned and good practices are implemented properly, new legislation to be passed by the country’s legislative power, such as the National Circular Economic Policy (Law Proposal 1874/2022), could represent a broader environmental push for full implementation and widespread compliance in the country.

Through the circular economy principles exemplified by EU solid waste management initiatives and activities, companies will be able to take advantage of the outcome addressed by extracting maximum value from their operations at minimum and sustainable costs. The benefits can be immediately realized by allocating the financial resources saved due to recycling and reusing materials, while also extending to future generations when the recovery and regeneration of materials is carried out properly.

Countries with regulations shaped by concerns over how to deal with the challenges posed by waste management have come a long way but there is still much to change. Evidently, there are significant lessons that can be learned from the solid waste management successes and failures of nations across the globe. The current course of legislative conversations in Brazil certainly demonstrate a keen awareness of this, with inevitable and considerable changes on the horizon for the governing bodies and companies affected.

Discussions continue at national and international levels, such as the G20 Social Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Companies that recognize the need for such changes will progressively adapt their operations to sustainable practices and will eventually reap the rewards in a desired greener world.