By Jacqueline Rutkowski. June, 2021
About this Brief
This brief is one of a series of case studies examining Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems in various locations around the globe. Produced by the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and WIEGO, this series looks at how the growing adoption of EPR policies and systems worldwide can either threaten or improve livelihoods for informal waste pickers who have traditionally been key players in recycling and reuse.
EPR systems come in many shapes and forms and can cover a range of materials. Their primary purpose is to hold producers responsible for the environmental and economic cost of the packaging and products that they put into the market. Some systems are mandatory policies, while others are voluntary initiatives led by companies or consortiums.
Waste is not just an environmental issue—it is a valuable commodity. For waste pickers, EPR systems can be controversial because they shift both power and profit to producers or other waste sector actors, often introducing new actors who compete for materials. But in places where waste pickers are organized, EPR can be a positive disruption that has the potential to finance new or existing waste picker activities. Thus, EPR can present both
risks and opportunities for waste pickers and their organizations. Without a clear understanding of EPR in different contexts, however, it can be difficult for waste pickers and their organizations to know what to demand when an EPR system is being proposed or how an existing system should be changed.
This series aims to close that knowledge gap by sharing on-the-ground, lived experience of local waste pickers and their organizations in places where some form of EPR exists. Each study concludes with a set of recommendations for improving the system to better accommodate waste picker integration.
Local and national waste picker organizations were involved in the research and development of each brief. This case study presents the vision of Brazil’s National Movement of Waste Pickers (MNCR) based on its experience with the Sectoral Agreement.
Acknowledgements
This report was prepared by Jacqueline E. Rutkowski, ORIS. ORIS and MNCR and The Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and WIEGO’s EPR working group provided valuable reviews. The list of representatives of the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers’ EPR Working Group can be found at: http://globalrec.org/epr
Please cite this publication as: Rutkowski, Jacqueline. 2021. Reverse Logistics for Packaging – Brazil’s EPR Model. The Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and WIEGO.
Cover photos:
Top – Sorting shed of Waste Picker Cooperative “Coopersol Leste”, Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2020.
Bottom – Plastic baling after sorting, Cooperative “ASCAPEL”, Betim/Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2019.
Photos: Gilberto Chagas/MNCR, ANCAT