According to a survey by Prolata, a non-profit association created in 2012, Brasília has more than 2,500 tons of recycled steel since the implementation in 2014 and 2015 of Prolata's partner cooperatives.
Organized by the Associação Brasileira de Embalagens de Aço (Abeaço), manufacturers and retailers of paints, Prolata aims to allow used cans to be disposed of correctly by consumers, sent to collectors' cooperatives and revalued in steelworks, transforming them into new cans or other items that use steel as a raw material.
Throughout Brazil, there are 51 Prolata partner cooperatives that accumulate more than 9,000 tons of recycled steel. With the reuse of steel through recycling, the extraction of iron ore was reduced by more than 10 thousand tons and the use of mineral coal by almost 1.5 thousand tons. It also reduced the emission of greenhouse gases by more than 33 thousand tons, the equivalent of more than 183 thousand trees, in addition to saving the consumption of 70% of water.
“We believe that it is the role of the steel can manufacturer to receive them back and forward them for revaluation. Prolata was the first management entity for reverse logistics of packaging recognized by the Ministry of the Environment”, explains Thaís Fagury, president of Abeaço and coordinator of Prolata. The executive points out that the reverse logistics system must be constituted considering shared responsibility, involving consumers, packaging manufacturers, bottled product manufacturers, retailers and, finally, the recycling industry. Thaís also remembers that steel is a 100% material and infinitely recyclable.
Source: Press à Porter Image Management
