Title: Reverse logistic of rejected plastic: the circularity and resilience of waste pickers in the supply chain

Authors: Luiz Savio Pires de Castro; Perla Calil Pongeluppe Wadhy Rebehy; Pedro Lopes Cardoso de Mattos; Alexandre Pereira Salgado Junior; Grégoire Jean-François Demets; Renan Louro Cardoso Franco

Addresses: Faculty of Economics, Business and Accountability, University of São Paulo (FEARP/USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' Faculty of Economics, Business and Accountability, University of São Paulo (FEARP/USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' Faculty of Economics, Business and Accountability, University of São Paulo (FEARP/USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' Faculty of Economics, Business and Accountability, University of São Paulo (FEARP/USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences of Ribeirão Preto (FFCLHRP/USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' RITTEC 8.0 Umwelttechnik GmbH, Friedrich-Seele-Straße 3, 38122, Braunschweig, Germany

Abstract: The absence of actions that promote the circular economy implies huge socio-environmental and economic losses since many materials could return to the production chain and generate income instead of being destined for landfills. This work aims to quantify and characterise the gravimetric composition of plastic waste from the recyclable waste segregation process in Brazil. The specific objectives are: 1) build the circular plastic economy flowchart for a Brazilian municipality with the respective quantities at each stage of the cycle; 2) identify the socio-environmental impacts of incorrect disposal of plastic packaging. The method used was a case study based on multiple sources of evidence. The results point to the disposal in landfills of plastic packaging as waste, 87% of which is type 1 (PET - polyethylene terephthalate). The waste flow shows that only 0.55% of the total volume of waste generated is collected and 4% of the selectively sorted plastic returns to the landfill, which has different impacts on all dimensions of sustainability.

Keywords: reverse logistic; plastic; waste; collectors; circular economy.

DOI: 10.1504/LAJMSD.2025.151045

Latin American Journal of Management for Sustainable Development, 2025 Vol.6 No.4, pp.332 - 352

Received: 04 Sep 2023
Accepted: 09 Apr 2024
Published online: 12 Jan 2026 *

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