Manufacturers of steel packaging are advancing in the creation of mechanisms so that they can comply with the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS). The main challenge for the food, paint and varnish industries, among others, is to engage the consumer, creating programs that allow them to properly and conveniently dispose of used packaging, contributing to reverse logistics and material recycling.
We recently had Prolata, a program for recycling steel cans created in 2012, a good example of how the union of paint manufacturers, paint retailers and can manufacturers can accelerate compliance with the PNRS. In 2019, nine new Voluntary Delivery Points (PEVs) were inaugurated in Baixada Santista for the collection of post-consumer paint cans. It was an initiative created from a major challenge established for the sector by the Public Ministry of São Paulo.
Due to the high consumption of paints in the Baixada Santista region and faced with few alternatives for the correct disposal of steel cans, the Special Action Group for the Environment (GAEMA), of the Public Ministry of São Paulo, led by Promotora Almachia Zwarg, asked the industry for a short-term solution.
In November 2018, the Brazilian Association of Steel Packaging (Abeaço), creator and coordinator of Prolata, the Brazilian Association of Paint Manufacturers (ABRAFATI) and the Association of Paint Resellers of the State of São Paulo (Artesp) signed the GAEMA an Environmental Cooperation Term that provided for the installation of four Voluntary Delivery Points (PEVs) by November 2020 and another five by November 2021.
GAEMA's performance, in this case, accelerated the implementation of PEVs proposed by Prolata and engaged the main interlocutor with the final consumer – retailers. The value chain was positively impacted by the initiative and by the excellent media exposure that the topic received.
We believe that it is the role of the steel can manufacturer to receive them back and forward them for revaluation. But the reverse logistics system must be constituted considering the shared responsibility, involving consumers, packaging manufacturers, packaged product manufacturers, retailers and, finally, the recycling industry.
* Thais Fagury is executive president of the Brazilian Steel Packaging Association (Abeaço)
