Rise in Recycling Credit in Brazil

Maíra Pereira, Director of Ambipar Environment (Credit: Divulgação).

As Brazil advances in establishing rules for the carbon credit market, another rapidly growing environmental solution opportunity is the recycling credit market. The programs work through traceability and invoices, thus confirming the destination of the recycled packaging.

Each ton recovered becomes a credit, approved by the federal government. Created in 2015 to comply with the National Solid Waste Policy, Ambipar Environment has managed to expand its goals in this market, especially since 2021, with the actual approval of the recycling credit policy. In 2022, it managed to verify the recycling of 33 thousand tons. Last year, it doubled in size. The expectation is to reach 200 thousand tons in 2026.

“The national waste policy is an instrument of social inclusion, income, and material recovery,” Maíra Pereira, Director of Ambipar Environment, told DINHEIRO. However some issues need to be addressed: 63% of municipalities have no type of selective collection, and half of the cities in Brazil still dump materials in landfills. And that’s where the problem lies because, without regularized work, there is no invoice for selling this credit in part of the country.

“Ambipar’s great effort is to accelerate the development of cooperatives, guide municipalities in implementing selective collection, and organize this circular economy chain. That’s why it’s important to structure the base,” said the executive. “In the private sector, there is a clear rule. Companies need to recover, in 2024, 30% of the packaging they put into circulation and, by 2040, 50%. The path is known. It just needs to be followed correctly.”

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