(English) Reverse logistics: opportunities and risks for the competitiveness of enterprises in environmental issues

[:en]

Our current production system is based on the use and processing of raw materials into finished/ marketed goods, generating tangible and / or intangible benefits to those who consume them. And the closing of this production / consumption cycle occurs through final disposal (or reuse) of these products.

However, inclement weather – natural phenomena such as strong wind, heat, humidity, drought, among other – causes a continuous flow of transformation which somehow guarantees human evolution and the production process: a know-how of the twentieth century is not replicated in its entirety in the twenty-first century. The raw material used at that time is not necessarily found in the same conditions today, either by its scarcity, loss of quality, difficulty of operation etc. But the change or even the extinction of the substance — often caused naturally — is what makes evolution possible.

Under such a context, we have in Tibben-Lembke and Rogers (1999) the definition of Reverse Logistics:

“The process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficiency, the effective cost of the flow of raw materials, process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of consumption to the point of origin for the purpose of recapturing value or being suitable for its destiny” (Rogers, Tibben-LEMBKE, 1999, p. 2).

Combined with the idea of transformation of matter either through a natural or artificial process (human action, for example) there are strategies for the development of business sustainability, i.e. the creation of opportunities from the scarcity and the need to preserve a certain feedstock or to create substitute or recyclable alternatives.

In Brazil, the reverse logistics envisaged in the National Policy on Solid Waste – PNRS (Federal Law No. 12,305/2010) was recently determined as a means of propulsion of the premises mentioned above: in the marketing chain of products the warranty of the manufacturer in the return of the waste material generated after its use triggers the change of the internal management of its manufacturing process. Indeed, the scarcity of the original raw material of a given product, the need for its preservation and the mandatory treatment of the generated residue activate important changes in the modus operandi of production.

Thus, issues linked to environmental efficiency and effectiveness should also be treated with special attention from the areas of business strategy, of the planning of the operation itself, as well as the areas of flow control and distribution channels in order to allow the implementation of reverse logistics of the product. The environmental efficiency and effectiveness, mentioned herein should be construed as a form of product design from an environmental viewpoint. The materials capable of being recycled must be considered. This practice, when strategically contemplated, improves the economic performance of a company. Likewise, the origin of the raw materials of a product, the quantification of energy use – whether thermal, electric, gas, etc.. – the use of inputs in general, water consumption, among other inputs intrinsic to the production process, should integrate the study of its design. All these factors, endowed with an economic, legal, environmental, business image / reputation nature, impact on the competitive advantage of a company.

Below is a practical representation of the reverse logistics process:

Thus, given the demands for improvement of production processes aiming at complying with environmental legislation, we must consider the systemic view of the interactions between industrial systems and environmental availability. It is also important to analyse the interactions between flow / processing of raw materials and energy use in attention to the legal aspects applicable to the types (either in production or logistics) for a possible reorientation of the industrial process — of cyclical nature — aiming at meeting the requirements of reverse logistics for the maintaining of its competitive advantage and the prevention of possible environmental expenditures with treatment of generated waste material.
CHENUT OLIVEIRA SANTIAGO’s Environmental Law team is at your entire disposal to further discuss the issue and assist you in the proper compliance of environmental regulations applicable to your activities.

 Grace Ladeira Garbaccio – Of Counsel attorney in Chenut Oliveira Santiago’s Environmental Law team[:]