11/01/2021

By Leonardo Neri

Published in February 2020, Federal Decree No. 10,240/2020 provides, among other matters, for the operationalization of reverse logistics for electronic products and their components for domestic use.

The aforementioned Federal Decree establishes four stages of the operationalization of reverse logistics, namely:

i) Disposal of electronic products by consumers at collection points;

ii) Receipt and temporary storage of discarded electronic products at receiving points or consolidation points, as applicable;

iii) Transportation of discarded electronic products from receiving points to consolidation points, if necessary; and

iv) Environmentally appropriate final destination.

Within this scope, it will be up to each of the agents involved to fulfill their obligations in order to make the reverse logistics system viable. In this sense, Federal Decree No. 10,240/2020 establishes:

• To consumers:

i) Segregate and store electronic products separately from other solid waste fractions, to maintain their physical integrity and prevent risks to human health or damage to the environment;

ii) Remove private information and data and the programs in which they are stored from electronic products; and

iii) Dispose of electronic products appropriately and switched off, at specific receiving points in the reverse logistics system.

• To manufacturers and importers:

i) Give an environmentally appropriate final destination, preferably for recycling, to 100% of the electronic products that are received by the system;

ii) Inform the Performance Monitoring Group of the objective criteria for calculating the mass balance of electronic products;

iii) Participate in the execution of communication and non-formal environmental education plans;

iv) Participate in a reverse logistics system as a compliance requirement for the import and sale of electronic products; and

v) Include in the Import Declaration the information of the person responsible for structuring, implementing and operating the importer's reverse logistics system, as a requirement for granting the import license for electronic products.

• To distributors:

i) Encourage adherence to management entities or individual participation in the reverse logistics system of retail establishments that are part of its commercial chain;

ii) Inform retail establishments that are part of its commercial chain about the process of operating the reverse logistics system; and

iii) Make available or pay for physical spaces for consolidation points to be used in the reverse logistics system.

• To traders:

i) Inform consumers about their responsibilities; and

ii) Receive, package and temporarily store electronic products discarded by consumers at the receiving points and return these products to manufacturers and importers; and

iii) Participate in the execution of communication and non-formal environmental education plans.

In addition to the responsibilities described above, everyone – except consumers – is responsible for making available to the Sisnama member bodies, when requested, the report to verify compliance with the actions under their responsibility.

The operation was structured in two phases, with the 1st Phase, which began in February 2020 and ended in December 2020, focused on structuring the reverse logistics of electronic devices, with activities such as the creation of the Performance Monitoring Group, support from the Ministry of the Environment, institution of a financial mechanism, adhesion of manufacturers, importers, traders and distributors to the managing entities and regulation with IBAMA, for example.

The 2nd Phase, aimed at implementing the reverse logistics system for electronic devices, began on January 1, 2021, and includes the following measures:

i) Qualification of service providers who may operate in the reverse logistics system for electronic products;

ii) preparation of communication and non-formal environmental education plans with the aim of publicizing the implementation of the reverse logistics system and qualifying opinion makers, leaders of entities, associations and municipal managers to support the implementation of the system; and

iii) installation of receiving or consolidation points.

It is worth noting that the reverse logistics system referred to in Federal Decree 10,240/2020 is restricted to electronic products for personal and domestic use, excluding those for governmental, corporate, industrial or commercial use by legal entities.

According to the implementation schedule for Phase 2, the goal is to reach 17% of annual product collection and disposal by 2025. For 2021, this goal is only 1%.

The schedule also indicates the states and cities that will be served by the reverse logistics system for electronic devices, gradually, with a forecast for the next 5 years. For this first year, only 24 cities, from 14 different states, will be served, but only for the third year is it expected that all states will be served in specific cities.