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Reduction of residues and rejects, reverse logistics and shared responsibility are the PNRS focuses

The National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) is a law (Law 12,305/10) that organizes the way the country deals with waste, requiring transparency in the management of their waste from the public and private sectors.

The constant increase in consumption in cities provides a large generation of urban solid waste. This growth is not accompanied by proper disposal, which can harm the environment and human health by contaminating the soil, water bodies and the atmosphere. A great potential is wasted, since many objects could be recycled or reused, saving natural and financial resources and CO2 emissions, which unbalance the greenhouse effect.

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In 2010, Law No. 12,305 was enacted and the National Solid Waste Policy was instituted, regulated by Decree 7,404/10. The PNRS was a milestone in the sector for dealing with all solid waste (materials that can be recycled or reused), whether domestic, industrial, electronics, among others; and also for dealing with tailings (items that cannot be reused), encouraging correct disposal in a shared way.

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The National Solid Waste Policy integrates public power, private initiative and civil society.

Goals

There are 15 goals in the PNRS:

1. Protection of public health and environmental quality;
2. Non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling and treatment of solid waste, as well as environmentally adequate final disposal of waste;
3. Encouraging the adoption of sustainable patterns of production and consumption of goods and services;
4. Adoption, development and improvement of clean technologies as a way to minimize environmental impacts;
5. Reduction of the volume and dangerousness of hazardous waste;
6. Encouraging the recycling industry, with a view to promoting the use of raw materials and inputs derived from recyclable and recycled materials;
7. Integrated solid waste management;
8. Articulation between the different spheres of public power, and of these with the business sector, with a view to technical and financial cooperation for the integrated management of solid waste;
9. Continued technical training in the solid waste area;
10. Regularity, continuity, functionality and universalization of the provision of public urban cleaning and solid waste management services, with the adoption of managerial and economic mechanisms that ensure the recovery of the costs of the services provided, as a way to ensure its operational and financial sustainability, observed Law No. 11,445, of 2007;
11. Priority, in government procurement and contracting, to:
1. recycled and recyclable products;
2. goods, services and works that consider criteria compatible with socially and environmentally sustainable consumption patterns;
12. Integration of reusable and recyclable material collectors in actions that involve shared responsibility for the life cycle of products;
13. Stimulus for the implementation of the product life cycle assessment;
14. Encouraging the development of environmental and business management systems aimed at improving production processes and reusing solid waste, including energy recovery and use;
15. Encouraging environmental labeling and sustainable consumption.

Instruments and main highlights

And how can all of them be fulfilled? There are instruments that the PNRS provides, such as incentives for selective collection and recycling, sanitary and environmental education practices, tax incentives and reverse logistics. Among everything that was approved, two points are highlighted:

Waste reduction and end of dumps

The Law proposes the reduction of generated waste, in order to encourage recycling and reuse, as we will see in the next point.

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The tailings, on the other hand, must be sent to suitable locations to minimize environmental damage and human health. This would be achieved with one of the goals, which is the "elimination and recovery of dumps, associated with social inclusion and economic emancipation of collectors of reusable and recyclable materials". Thus, the tailings would not be disposed of in the open, but taken to their own places that could reuse them for the production of biogas, for example.

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Shared responsibility and reverse logistics

Before the law, when a consumer discarded a product in an inappropriate location, no one knew who was to blame. With the National Solid Waste Policy, this responsibility is divided among the various participants in the chain, as shared responsibility for the life cycle of the products is determined. The analysis of the life cycle of an item comprises the entire product process, from raw material extraction, production, consumption and final disposal. The responsibility for the product lies with traders, manufacturers, importers, distributors, citizens and holders of urban solid waste management services in reverse logistics.

One of the mechanisms of this joint responsibility lies mainly with the private sector, which must make reverse logistics feasible, especially for pesticides, cells and batteries, tires, lubricating oils, fluorescent lamps and electronic products. Despite the emphasis on these more problematic items in environmental terms, the law determines that reverse logistics measures must extend to products sold in plastic, metallic or glass packaging, and to other products and packaging, considering, as a matter of priority, the grade and the extent of the impact on public health and the environment of the waste generated. In other words, companies should be concerned with knowing what will be the destination that the end user gave to their product after being consumed and offer options to reuse it in their production chains or to dispose of it correctly. The user, on the other hand, must return packages and products to the companies, which can make sectorial agreements and terms of commitment with the government to implement measures.

Problems in execution and possible extension of deadline

The PNRS created important goals for the extinction of dumps and proposed planning instruments at the national, state, inter-municipal, micro-regional, inter-municipal, metropolitan and municipal levels, also establishing that individuals are concerned with their solid waste management plans. However, there are still few adjustments, the dumps still exist, not everyone has a management plan, among others. A bill is being analyzed for an extension in the deadline to replace the dumps with sanitary landfills until 2024.

The National Solid Waste Policy is extensive and deals with many other things, such as priority orders to avoid waste generation, determines that some technologies can be used to generate energy from "waste", shows the specifics of management plans in each level, etc. Check the law No. 12,305/10 in full.