About the episode
We started Rotocast #31 with a question that keeps a lot of people up at night: will your company be forced to use recycled plastic? We looked into Decree 12,688/2025, which has already been in effect for large companies since January, and we showed that the impact isn't just on industry. It runs through waste pickers, recyclers, and the entire packaging chain, with different deadlines for medium and small companies. Our reading is that, despite the natural discomfort of any readjustment, the movement tends to be positive for many people who currently sustain recycling at the base. And no one escapes understanding the targets and starting to prepare yourself. As we said in the episode: “It's a decree that changes everything, right? It's going to introduce new rules…”
The decree has arrived and it already affects drums, barrels, and water tanks
The new decree creates national targets for plastic packaging — starting at 22% recycled content and 32% recovery — and puts manufacturers and importers at the center of the obligation. Drums and rotomolded tanks may fall under the classification. We discussed what's already in, what may still come in, and why even the candy wrapper became a wafer: it's the tax classification that decides who pays more or less, and the entire plastic chain will have to adapt. None of this gets resolved without an accounting partner who closely follows these changes.
We found out that the plastic wrapping around a pack of soda or beer is as much packaging as the can itself, and that drags the entire chain into the obligation. The math adds up when we understand that manufacturer, importer, distributor, and even the retailer at the end will charge each other for an already-certified product. And then no one escapes: “one will charge the other,” because without certification the risk of a fine reaches everyone.
The decree has a commendable concept, but it runs into an uncomfortable reality: Brazilians are still at the stage of learning to dispose of waste correctly, while countries like Canada already fine those who don't separate their trash. The way out we envision is bringing in experts and talking about recycling credits, because the impact reaches from packaging manufacturers to rotomolding that produces tanks and technical parts. And it became clear that Brazilians are still at the stage of learning to put trash in the trash.
If your rotomolding company sells drums, barrels, or industrial containers, the classification doesn't look at whether the product is plastic, but whether it enters the market as packaging. Large companies have already felt the impact since January, while small and medium ones have a deadline arriving in the middle of the year. In the middle of this conversation came the doubt that stalled us the most in our research: what's the difference between the 22% recycled content and the 32% recovery.
Buying recycling credits isn't just a gesture of goodwill: if your name is on the packaging, you'll have to pay for the ten tons of credit referring to that material, because now you're the one responsible for the waste you generate. In the episode, we said that “you are a waste generator, got it?” We also got into SENIR, the government system that registers recyclers and issues the reverse logistics recycling credit certificate, showing how all material entering the recycler's door becomes tracked, including the kilo bought from the waste picker — which formalizes a sector that is today invisible, but also, as we joked, soon brings the little crowd.
Recycling credit, taxes, and molds: what to do with this in practice
Not every rotomolded product falls under the decree, but the market will demand it. We talked about how commercial pressure is likely to push water tanks, technical parts, ag items, and even plant pots into the recycled chain. And we took the opportunity to debunk the myth that recycled material always contaminates food — the problem is traceability, not origin. While virgin resin spikes and we still follow the impact of the Braskem crisis without giving an opinion, the tip is clear: those who work with recycled material should adapt, those who work with virgin material should pay attention to market options so they don't take a kick in the legs. As we asked: “Why does only my product have to be classified under this? Why can't you cover a little more?”
Recycling isn't the same as recovering. We tend to think that just recycling is enough for the material to go back to what it was, but we showed that's not the case: contaminants get incorporated into the plastic and the smell of gasoline can show up even in a water tank made with recovered material. The difference is exactly there — if you have traceability and, when necessary, use special additives, recycled material can indeed go back to demanding segments, including food. And as we said: “It's not because you're recycling the water tank that it's fit to become a water tank.”
Some recycled material arrives so strong it makes your eyes water — and that's why so many people turn to fabric softener packaging to mask the smell before transforming the resin into a little bag. But we went beyond the odor and showed what many companies still haven't realized: even those who buy 100% recycled material are still waste generators and will need to certify the purchase of recycling credits, with the advantage of getting differentiated pricing and rates for working with recycled material and keeping traceable documentation.
We tend to drown in operations and forget the bureaucracy that affects our pockets — meanwhile, the wrong tax classification drains money from cash flow. That's when we brought in the CX Contábil case: a transportation company that grossed about 2 million and 540 thousand in the quarter, with nearly 625 thousand in taxes through the natural route, and that after a tax adjustment saved 480 thousand reais in just the last quarter. The message is direct — it's not the CNAE, it's the product, and each case needs to be analyzed so you can find out how much you could be saving. As we provoked: “Do you still think accounting is a cost for your company or an investment?”
If you're thinking about expanding your line or starting now, the credit path may be more viable than it seems. We showed the case of a partner of ours who bought Chinese equipment with financing granted by a German bank, going through a case-by-case feasibility analysis. We also explained that there are specific lines for innovative products, for ag, with grace periods that can reach two years, making the operation's own profit pay for the equipment. And we also talked about the new reverse logistics rule for plastic packaging, which already applies to large companies in January, reaches small and medium ones in July, and moves toward 40% recycled material by 2040. As we summed up: “You buy the equipment there, you work, the profit you make is already paying for the equipment there.”
There are segments of our market that will feel the effects heavily of an adaptation that arrives in stages: first the notification, then an impact that progressively knocks on your door. That's why we opened space in our WhatsApp group and put together a survey about porosity in molds. If your aluminum or carbon steel mold keeps giving you headaches, there's a real path to recovery: specialized people train your team and provide the material to solve it at your own company, without having to stop production because of a small defect.
Not all recycled material arrives with the quality that extrusion requires, and that's where additives come in to bind the material. We talked about this huge line from Mirai Química for plastic recovery in general — roto, injection, vacuum forming, and blow molding — and we also reminded you that episode 29 broke down the subject. If you have any doubts, just reach out to us on WhatsApp or at the hub.
Watch the full episode to understand how the
Summary generated with AI from the episode; some information may not be 100% accurate relative to the original content.