RECICLA+ Introduces the Recycling Credit Certificate

On 13 April 2022, the Brazilian Federal Government published Federal Decree No 11,044/2022, which creates the Recycling Credit Certificate — Recicla+. Its central objective is to foster recycling in Brazil by encouraging private investment in solid-waste management, in particular of products and packaging discarded by consumers. The Decree seeks to implement and facilitate compliance with article 33 of Federal Law No 12,305/2010, which obliges manufacturers, importers, distributors and merchants to put in place reverse-logistics systems, ensuring the return of products after consumer use, independently of public urban cleaning and solid-waste management services.

The central challenge of reverse logistics is to structure a uniform system across the whole of Brazilian territory, given the many sector-, product- and region-specific particularities involved.

The Recycling Credit Certificate — Recicla+ — is a document issued by the managing entity that evidences the return to the production cycle of a mass equivalent to the products or packaging subject to reverse logistics. The certificate may be acquired by manufacturers, importers, distributors and merchants.

Broadly, the certificate is intended to enhance the implementation and operation of physical and logistical infrastructure; to generate economies of scale; to reduce the generation of solid waste and material waste throughout the product life cycle; and to stimulate the development of packaging designed with greater recyclability and returnability in mind.

One particularly interesting and important feature for the productive sector is the adoption of a "black box" electronic information system, which will allow the anonymised collection of data from the corporate sector and the confidential, secure measurement of the masses of products or packaging placed on the market and returned to the productive sector, for the purpose of evidencing compliance with reverse-logistics targets by companies adhering to the collective model.

Recicla+ is therefore a voluntary system that will allow companies to demonstrate compliance with their reverse-logistics targets through a reliable, integrated electronic system covering the entire Brazilian territory.

It is worth noting that the system will integrate with existing tools, such as Sinir's Waste Transport Manifest and the electronic invoices for transactions involving products or packaging actually returned to the manufacturer or to the company responsible for recycling or energy recovery.

A review of the Decree shows that the new system seeks to ensure compliance and traceability along the entire reverse-logistics chain — through the issuance of electronic invoices, with the operation cleared by a managing entity.

The Decree reflects a clear concern with the traceability and verification of recycling of products or packaging, requiring operators to demonstrate the veracity, authenticity, uniqueness and non-overlap of electronic invoices, certified by an independent verifier.

The Decree sets out in detail the mechanics of Recicla+ and incorporates environmental-management concepts into the structuring and operation of the entire reverse-logistics system — with particular emphasis on security, traceability, the generation of economic value through recycling and the adoption of modern management practices, including through a Performance Monitoring Group.

LUCIANA CAMPONEZ PEREIRA MORALLES

luciana.moralles@fius.com.br