Ambipar to invest R$50 million by 2030

The company is the first to have a plan approved by the Ministry of the Environment after the publication of the glass reverse logistics decree.

Ambipar will invest R$50 million by 2030 to implement the first glass reverse logistics plan throughout Brazil. The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) approved the project presented by the company to comply with Decree 11,300/2022, which establishes reverse logistics for glass packaging in the country.

Glass is the most problematic waste in the recycling chain in Brazil. Due to transportation difficulties, risks, and low added value in the sale of the material, a large part of the waste ends up in landfills or dumps.

According to the federal government, it is estimated that annually, more than 1 billion glass bottles are discarded in the country, some improperly in beaches, rivers, vacant lots, landfills, or sanitary landfills. Only 20% of this total is recycled.

Ambipar is the first company to have an approved plan to promote glass reverse logistics in Brazil and ensure that the waste returns to the production chain. Thus, fragments that used to end up in the trash can now be reused by the industry.

The company will create a collection system, through its own trucks, for the collection of glass from large waste generators, such as factories, bars, bakeries, and restaurants.

In addition, Ambipar will create glass cleaning units in the five regions. After this process, sorting will be done for resale to industries and transformation into new products, closing the circular economy cycle.

For Maíra Pereira, Director of Ambipar Environment, the new system benefits the environment and the work of recycling professionals. “With the creation of an operational market, glass values ​​will become more attractive to collection professionals, and the amount of irregularly dumped waste will decrease,” she says.

She also explains that the absence of a glass reverse logistics system causes supply problems in the industry. “This has always prevented glass packaging companies from having sufficient access to this type of waste for reuse. Today, industries need to import glass fragments because the material is lacking. In addition, production from sand is much more expensive and emits much more carbon dioxide,” Maíra explains.

Early last year, the country experienced a glass shortage that affected the beverage industry. The government ended up issuing a decree exempting the import of transparent glass from taxation, leading to an increase in the import of glass fragments.

According to the executive, based on the plan developed by Ambipar, it will be possible to access glass collection strategically. “It is a way to revolutionize the entire Brazilian glass market through reverse logistics and lead the movement to adapt companies and society to Decree 11,300/2022, which came into force at the end of last year,” she says.

The Decree also establishes reverse logistics targets for companies generating glass packaging, defining that, by the end of this year, 26% of the glass placed on the Brazilian market should be recycled and reintegrated into the production chain, in 2024 the goal is 30% and it follows a progressive pattern, so that by 2030, it will be 37.5%. It is important to emphasize that this goal includes recovery in all 5 Brazilian regions.

Natalia Santana <[email protected]>

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