Post-consumer plastic packaging waste flow analysis for Brazil: The challenges moving towards a circular economy

Abstract

Plastic packaging has been used increasingly worldwide in a broad range of application. Plastic packaging has a short lifetime, which generates a large amount of waste. However, robust information on plastic packaging waste flow is generally not available, especially for developing countries such as Brazil. We analyzed and quantified Brazilian post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW) flows using material flow analysis (MFA) for the year 2017. The system modeled covered from the manufacturing stage of plastic packaging up to its waste management stage. We used a range of data sources, whose quality we assessed using uncertainty characterization. The results showed that Brazil generated 12 Mt of PPW in 2017, and the management of 63% of that was not monitored. The majority of monitored PPW was disposed of into landfills, but 0.8 Mt of PPW was improperly disposed. Informal collection was 24% greater than formally managed selective collection. Only 4.5% of the PPW generated in Brazil was recycled. The results identified the major national challenges in relation to PPW management as being that information systems needed to be improved, informal waste collectors needed to be socially and productively included in the management systems, and recovery systems needed to be developed towards a circular economy.

Keywords: Circular economy; Material flow analysis; Post-consumer plastic packaging; Resource management; Waste management.