The Campo Limpo System is a Brazilian reverse logistics program for empty crop protection packages or those containing leftover products. With inpEV acting as its intelligence hub, this System covers all the regions of the country and is based on the concept of responsibility shared by farmers, manufacturers, distribution channels, and government, according to Federal Law 9,974/00, and its regulatory Decree 4,074/02. Its broad capillarity can be proven by the numbers of its structure, presented in the infographics below.
The System follows the evolution of Brazilian agriculture and agribusiness. If abandoned in the environment or improperly discarded, the crop protection packaging could jeopardize the soil, surface water and groundwater. Once reused, they pose a risk to human health and the environment.
Research conducted by the National Plant Protection Association (Andef) has pointed out that, in 1999, 50% of empty crop protection packaging in Brazil was given away or sold without any control, 25% was burned in the open, 10% was stored in the open and 15% was simply abandoned in the field. The adoption of the Campo Limpo System modified this scenario in such a way that today the country is considered a world reference in the environmentally correct destination of these packages. About 90% of the material received by the System returns to the productive cycle as raw material, which corresponds to the average percentage of packaging subject to recycling (cardboard, metal and washable plastic, provided this material as been properly washed after use in the field). Non-washable packages (about 5% of total sales) and those not properly washed by farmers are sent to accredited incinerators.