Braskem kickstarts Brazil's circular economy with repurposed landfill plastic partnership

16 Oct 2020 --- A partnership between thermoplastic resin producer Braskem and environmental engineering company Tecipar is repurposing landfill plastics as part of recycled resin production in São Paulo, Brazil.

The two parties aim to recover recyclable PE and PP plastics from the landfill of Santana do Parnaíba, a city in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city. 

Their efforts will prevent 2,000 metric tons of plastic residues from being discharged yearly on the landfill, the equivalent to 36 million PE and PP packaging items.

“The plastic residue corresponds to more than 14 percent of all residues received by this landfill in one year,” Fabiana Quiroga, Braskem’s circular economy director in South America, tells PackagingInsights.

“This partnership is the first of many to achieve our great goal: to transform plastic waste, considered as waste, into raw material for new products.”

The recycled PE and PP resins expand Braskem’s portfolio of circular solutions marketed under its “I’m green” brand, used by major companies for producing plastic items with improved environmental footprints. 

Braskem’s goal is to reintroduce plastic waste into the value chain by converting it into reusable raw material.One man’s trash
Quiroga pinpoints recovery of the formally landfilled plastic waste as the biggest challenge the partnership faces.

Toward this end, Tecipar implemented a raw waste sorting plant that separates waste collected from the cities of Barueri and Santana de Parnaíba. There, it is separated from the organic waste so it can be reinserted into the value chain.

After the separation, the sorted plastic is directed to Braskem’s recycling partners, responsible for producing PE and PP recycled resins, according to the formulations defined by Braskem. 

“Although challenging, we understand that this is a good business opportunity because we can offer a differentiated product that is completely circular to our customers,” Quiroga underlines.

Braskem will commercialize the resins globally for use as raw material in the development of new products.

Examples include recycled plastic chairs launched by Tramontina and Colormaq’s line of semiautomatic and automatic washing machines, including components made from the post-consumer plastic resin.

Scalable technology
Quiroga sees this partnership as exemplifying circular plastic waste management practices in “a country where selective collection rates are still low.”

A recent survey conducted by the São Paulo State Court of Audit found that one-third of municipalities in São Paulo do not have recycling systems. 

Nevertheless, she also calls Brazil’s recycling market “promising,” and one that can create jobs and income for Brazilian residents and help the country overcome “one of its main challenges: waste management.”

Brazil is “a country where selective collection rates are still low,” says Quiroga.Lucas Faveri, the environmental engineer responsible for the Tecipar waste picking plant, explains that the semi-mechanized model used in the partnership with Braskem is a first for the state of São Paulo. 

He adds that it holds the potential to help municipalities reduce recycling costs and increase recycling rates.

“Various initiatives focusing on increasing recyclability come up against the high operational cost of waste triage and collection systems. Information and economic feasibility are two very important factors in this process,” Faveri notes.

Where the responsibility lies
According to marine preservation organization Ocean Conservancy, 8 million metric tons of plastic go into the ocean annually. This has spurred several waste prevention measures.

While some companies such as Pack Tech reuse ocean-collected plastic for personal care packaging, others like Impact Snacks, opt out of using fossil fuel plastic for their snack bar wrapping.

Plastic is sometimes demonized in broader society, although some research points to plastic itself not being the problem, but rather its disposal.

When asked who might bear the greatest responsibility for plastic pollution – governments, consumers or industry – Quiroga responds: “We understand that the responsibility lies with everyone.” 

“It is crucial that all actors of society are aware and engage so that the plastic, as well as other recyclable materials, return to its productive chain.” 

“Engagement, cooperation and innovation are the best ways to solve the inadequate disposal of plastic waste and its return to the chain,” she concludes.

By Anni Schleicher