Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2023 - 30

recycling
Valgroup operates
the largest PET
recycling facility in
Latin America
PET recycling
in Brazil
How likely is it that a passer-by in the
streets of São Paulo, Brazil, would know
the price of recycled PET resin? Not very,
perhaps, but considerably more likely
than most people would assume.
By Beatriz Santos
A
round 55% of PET
packaging is recycled
in Brazil,
compared with
around 24% for plastic packaging
in general. In São Paulo,
a city of more than 12 million
inhabitants, there are anywhere
between 2,000 and
30,000 'catadores', informal
recycling workers that collect
plastic, cardboard, aluminium
and other waste from the city
streets.
The numbers vary widely
because the vast majority of
the workers aren't registered,
but Brazilian newspaper A
Folha de São Paulo puts its
estimative at 2,100, while a
survey from Cataki, an app
that connects catadores with
waste producers, puts its
highest estimate at 30,000
workers. The National Movement
of Catadores of Recycled
Materials (MNCR, from
the Portuguese) estimates
that there are around 800,000
active catadores in Brazil, with
women making up 70% of the
category. Overall, catadores
are responsible for collecting
around 90% of everything that
30
is recycled in Brazil.
Polymer prices
Much like the rest of the world,
the increased off er of cheap virgin
materials from Asia has led
to a drop in demand and price
of recycled polymers in Brazil.
According to the Interministerial
Committee for the Socioeconomic
Inclusion of Waste Pickers
and Collectors of Reusable
and Recyclable Materials (CIISC),
the inflow of plastic waste
into Brazil rose by 7.2% between
2019 and 2022, while resin prices
dropped an average of 28%
over the last 12 months.
According to data collected
by Sustainable Plastics, during
the first two weeks of August,
European polymer prices for
rPET clear flake prices fell by
€100/tonne, clear food-grade
pellet prices were down by €90/
tonne and coloured flake prices
fell by €40/tonne.
Dwindling demand for rPET
resin is impacting recyclers in
Brazil, and the catadores are
amongst the first to feel the impact.
At the end of August, national
broadcaster Globo aired an
interview with catadores from the
September/October 2023
streets of São Paulo, who shared
they were shocked with the unprecedented
drop in prices.
In an attempt both to slow the
fall in prices and to shore up the
national recycling industry, on 1
August, the Brazilian Chamber
of Foreign Trade (Camex) raised
the import tax on waste plastic,
paper and glass to 18%. Until
August, these products were exempt
from import taxes and plastic
waste was taxed at 11.2%.
In a statement, the Ministry
of Development, Industry,
Trade and Services (MDIC)
said the measure is intended
to strengthen national solid
waste recycling and reduce the
impact of waste in the environment.
It also said the measure
is expected to benefit the catadores
because the increase in
import tariff s should make the
collection of recycled materials
more profitable again.
Valgroup's PET recycling
facility in Rio de Janeiro
During the World Plastic Connection
Summit 2023, which
took place in São Paulo between
21-24 August, Sustainable
Plastics had the opportunity
to visit the largest PET
recycling facility in Latin America,
Valgroup's factory in Duque
de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro. The
recycling and injection moulding
plant has a capacity of 4,000
tons per month, equivalent to
around 18 million rPET bottles.
Valgroup is one of the largest
plastic producers, transformers
and recyclers in the world, and
the largest in Latin America. It
pioneered bottle-to-bottle recycling
in Brazil, introducing the
first 100% recycled PET bottle to
the market in 2012, in the shape
of the famous bright green bottle
of Guaraná. It started its recycling
operations in 2000, following
trends in Europe and the
United States, as well as increasing
demand from its clients.
The company achieved foodgrade
certification in 2008, focusing
on packaging for cleaning
products until then. Today,
it has over 50% market share
of bottle-to-bottle recycling in
Brazil, where the recycling of
PET packaging corresponded
to 36% of the plastic recycling
sector in 2019.
Present in the market for more
than 45 years, the company produces
plastic for food packaging,
personal care hygiene, beverages,
agricultural, amongst other
applications. Valgroup also operates
PET recycling plants in
Pernambuco and Minas Gerais,
Brazil, with a monthly capacity
of 1,800 tons and 1,600 tons, respectively,
as well as facilities in
Mexico and Spain, with capacities
of 2,000 and 1,500 tons. It
recently also opened a plant in
Italy. In 2021, the company recycled
the equivalent of 16% of the
packaging it produced. By 2040,
it wants to recycle the equivalent
of 100%, reduce the use of virgin
resins by 60%, and rely on 100%
renewables - solar and wind energy
- to power its operations.
Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2023

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