Source: http://www.braziliannr.com/brazilian-environmental-legislation/law-no-12305-brazilian-national-policy-solid-waste/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 00:13:36+00:00

Document:
Institutes the National Policy on Solid Waste; alters Law No. 9,605 of 12 February 1998; and makes other provisions.
Art. 1. This Law institutes the National Policy on Solid Waste, its principles, objectives and instruments, and sets forth guidelines in relation to integrated management and solid waste management (including hazardous ones), generators’ responsibilities and applicable economic instruments.
Para. 1. This Law shall apply to all individuals and legal entities, ruled by Private or Public Law, which are either directly or indirectly responsible for the generation of solid waste, and develop actions related to integrated management or solid waste management.
Para. 2. This Law does not apply to radioactive waste, which shall be regulated by specific legislation.
Art. 2. In addition to the provisions outlined herein, provisions of Laws No. 11,445, of 5 January 2007, 9,974, of 6 June 2000, and 9,966, of 28 April 2000, and the norms established by bodies of the National Environment System (hereinafter referred to as Sisnama), the National Sanitary Surveillance System (hereinafter referred to as SNVS), the Unified System of Animal and Plant Health (hereinafter referred to as Suasa) and the National System of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (hereinafter referred to as Sinmetro) also apply to solid waste.
XIX – public cleaning and solid waste management services: set of activities outlined in Art. 7 of Law No. 11,445, of 2007.
Art. 4. The National Policy on Solid Waste encompasses the set of principles, objectives, instruments, guidelines, goals and actions adopted by the Federal Government, either individually or in cooperation with the states, the Federal District, municipalities or private third parties aiming at the integrated and environmentally-adequate management of solid waste.
Art. 5. The National Policy on Solid Waste is part of the National Environmental Policy and is coordinated with the National Policy on Environmental Education, regulated by Law No. 9,795, of 27 April 1999, with the Federal Policy on Basic Sanitation, regulated by Law No. 11,445, of 2007, and with Law No. 11,107, of 6 April 2005.
XI – reasonability and proportionality.
XV – incentive to environmental labels and sustainable consumption.
XIX – incentive to the adoption of consortia or other forms of cooperation among federated entities aiming at increasing utilization and reducing the costs involved.
Art. 9. When managing solid waste, the following priority shall be observed: non-generation, reduction, reutilization, recycling, solid waste treatment and final environmentally-adequate waste disposal.
Para. 1. Technologies for the energetic recovery of urban solid waste may be used, provided that technical and environmental feasibility are proven, and a toxic-gas-emissions-monitoring program approved by the relevant environmental body had been implemented.
Para. 2. The National Policy on Solid Waste and local Policies on Solid Waste in the states, the Federal District and municipalities shall be compatible with provisions outlined in this Article’s introduction and Para. 1, as well as with other guidelines established herein.
Art. 10. The Federal District and municipalities are responsible for the integrated management of the solid waste generated in their respective territories, with no prejudice to control and enforcement attributions of Sisnama, SNVS and Suasa’s federal and state bodies, and notwithstanding the generator’s responsibility for waste management, as outlined herein.
II – controlling and inspecting the activities of pollution generators subject to environmental licensing by the SISNAMA environmental body.
Sole Paragraph. The state shall support and prioritize municipal initiatives of associated and shared solutions between 2 (two) or more municipalities.
Art. 12. The Federal Government, the states, the Federal District and municipalities shall jointly organize and keep the National Solid Waste Management Information System (Sinir) coordinated with Sinisa and Sinima.
Sole Paragraph. The states, the Federal District and municipalities are responsible for providing all information about waste under their scope of competence to Sinir at such a time and in such a manner as the regulation may determine.
b) non-hazardous waste: those not included in topic “a” above.
Sole Paragraph. In conformity with the provisions on Art. 20, waste referred to in topic “d” of item I of this Article’s introduction, if characterized as non-hazardous, may, due to its nature, composition or volume, be compared to domestic waste by the municipal public authority.
VI – solid waste management plans.
Sole Paragraph. Broad publicity of solid waste plans as well as social control of its formulation, implementation and operationalization is guaranteed in compliance with provisions set forth in Law No. 10,650, of 16 April 2003, and Art. 47 of Law No. 11,445, of 2007.
XI – means to be used for control and inspection, at the national level, of implementation and operationalization, with social control guaranteed.
Sole Paragraph. The National Plan on Solid Waste shall be prepared through a process of social mobilization and participation, which shall include public hearings and consultations.
Art. 16. The formulation of state plans on solid waste, under the terms outlined herein, is conditional for states to be entitled to Federal Government’s funds, or funds controlled thereby, which are intended for undertakings and services related to the management of solid waste, or to be incremented by incentives or financing from federal credit entities or support for this purpose.
Para. 1. Access to funds referred to in this Article’s introduction shall be prioritized to states considered as micro-regions as per Art. 25 Para. 3 of the Federal Constitution, to integrate organization, planning and execution stages of actions under the responsibility of adjacent municipalities in the management of solid waste.
Para. 2. Supplementary rules on the access to the Federal Government’s funds under the terms of this Article shall be established by a regulation.
Para. 3. In conformity with the responsibility of generators under the terms herein, micro-regions instituted under the terms of Para. 1 shall comprise activities such as selective collection, recovery, recycling, final treatment and destination of urban solid waste, management of civil construction waste, transportation, health and agrosilvopastoral services waste, or other waste, according to micro-regional peculiarities.
operationalization, with social control guaranteed.
Para. 1. In addition to the state plans, states can draft micro-regional solid waste plans, as well as specific plans intended for metropolitan regions or urban agglomerations.
Para. 2. The formulation and implementation, by the states, of solid waste micro-regional plans, or plans by metropolitan regions or urban agglomerations according to Para. 1 must compulsorily have the participation of the municipalities involved and do not exclude any of the municipalities’ prerogatives outlined in this Law.
Para. 3. In conformity with the responsibility of generators under the terms herein, the solid waste micro-regional plan shall meet state-plan requirements and establish integrated solutions for selective collection, recovery and recycling, treatment and final destination of urban solid waste and, all micro-regional peculiarities considered, other types of waste.
Art. 18. The formulation of the municipal integrated plan on solid waste, under the terms outlined herein, is conditional for the Federal District and municipalities to be entitled to Federal Government’s funds, or funds controlled thereby, which are intended for undertakings and services related to urban cleaning and the management of solid waste, or to be incremented by incentives or financing from federal credit entities or support for this purpose.
II – implement selective collection with the participation of cooperatives or other forms of association of waste-pickers collecting reusable and recyclable material, set up by low-income people.
XIX – periodicity of reviews, in compliance with the validity of the municipal multi-year plan.
Para. 1. The municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste may be inserted in the basic sanitation plan outlined in Art. 19 of Law No. 11,445, of 2007, in compliance with the minimum established under the items of this Article’s introduction and provisions of Para. 2.
Para. 2. The municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste shall have a simplified content, under the terms of the regulation, for municipalities with less than 20,000 (twenty thousand) inhabitants.
III – those covering Protected Areas, either total or partially.
Para. 4. The existence of a municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste does not exempt the municipality or the Federal District of issuing environmental licensing for landfills or other operational infrastructure or facilities that are part of public urban cleaning and solid waste management services by the Sisnama competent body.
Para. 5. In defining responsibilities under the terms of item VIII of this Article’s introduction, it is forbidden to assign the waste management stages referred to in Art. 20 to the public urban cleaning and solid waste management service, contrary to the respective environmental license or norms established by Sisnama bodies, and, SNVS bodies if applicable.
Para. 6. In addition to the provisions outlined in items I to XIX of this Article’s introduction, the municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste shall consider specific actions aiming at the rational use of environmental resources, the struggle to avoid squandering and the reduction in the generation of solid waste, to be developed within the scope of the public administration bodies.
Para. 7. The contents of the municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste shall be made available for Sinir under the terms of the regulation.
Para. 8. The lack of a municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste cannot be used to stop the installation or operationalization of undertakings or activities which are duly licensed by the competent bodies.
Para. 9. The municipality that opts for associated inter-municipal solutions for solid waste management under the terms of the regulation, provided that the inter-municipal plan meets the requirements set forth in items I to XIX of this Article’s introduction, may be exempt from formulating a municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste .
V – those responsible for agrosilvopastoral activities, if required by a competent Sisnama, SNVS or Suasa body.
Sole Paragraph. In accordance with the provision set forth in Chapter IV of this Title, specific requirements in relation to the hazardous waste management plan shall be established by a regulation.
IX – periodicity of reviews, in compliance, if applicable, with the validity of the respective operation license under the responsibility of Sisnama bodies.
Para. 1. The solid waste management plan shall comply with the provision of the municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste of the respective municipality, without prejudice of the norms set forth by Sisnama, SNVS and Suasa bodies.
Para. 2. The lack of a municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste does not exempt the formulation, implementation or operationalization of the solid waste management plan.
II – simplified criteria and procedures for the presentation of solid waste management plans for microenterprise and small-sized enterprise, according to definitions of Supplementary Law No. 123, of 14 December 2006, Art. 3, items I and II, provided that the activities developed thereby do not generate hazardous waste.
Art. 22. A duly qualified technician shall be appointed for the formulation, implementation, operationalization and monitoring of all stages of the solid waste management plan, including control of final environmentally-adequate waste disposal.
Art. 23. Those responsible for solid waste management plans shall keep complete and updated information on the implementation and operationalization of the plan under their responsibility available to the competent municipal body, the Sisnama licensing body and other authorities.
Para. 1. Without prejudice to other applicable requirements, a declaratory system shall be implemented in order to achieve the provision outlined in this Article’s introduction, on an annual basis, according to the regulation.
Para. 2. The information referred to in this Article’s introduction shall be passed on by public bodies to Sinir under the terms of a regulation.
Art. 24. The solid waste management plan is part of the environmental licensing process of the undertaking or activity by the competent body of Sisnama.
Para. 1. Approval of the solid waste management plan of undertakings and activities that do not require an environmental license is subject to the competent municipal authority.
Para. 2. During the environmental licensing process subject to approval by a Sisnama federal or state body, as referred to in Para. 1 above, the competent municipal body shall be assured the opportunity to be heard, particularly in relation to final environmentally-adequate waste disposal.
Art. 25. The Public Authority, the business sector and the society are responsible for the effectiveness of actions taken towards assuring compliance with the National Policy on Solid Waste, guidelines and other determinations established herein and in the regulation.
Art. 26. The holder of public urban cleaning and solid waste management services is responsible for organizing and rendering those services in compliance with the respective municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste, Law No. 11,445, of 2007, the provisions herein and the regulation.
Art. 27. Individuals or corporate bodies referred to in Art. 20 are responsible for the complete implementation and operationalization of the solid waste management plan approved by the competent body under the terms of Art. 24.
Para. 1. The hiring of services such as collection, storage, transport, transshipment, treatment and final environmentally-adequate waste disposal does not exempt individuals or corporate bodies referred to in Art. 20 from accountability over damages caused by the inadequate management of respective waste or debris.
Para. 2. In the cases covered by Art. 20, the stages under the responsibility of the generator which are eventually carried out by the Public Authority shall be duly compensated by the relevant individuals or corporate bodies, in compliance with the provision of Art. 19 Para. 5.
Art. 28. The responsibility of domestic solid waste generators shall cease with the adequate waste disposal for collection or, in the cases covered by Art. 33, with restitution.
Art. 29. The Public Authority shall act subsidiarily with a view to minimize or cease damages immediately after having taken notice of a deleterious event for the environment or public health related to the management of solid waste.
Sole Paragraph. Those who cause the damages shall fully compensate the Public Authority for expenses resulting from measures outlined in this Article’s introduction.
Art. 30. It is hereby instituted shared responsibility for products’ life cycle, to be implemented in an individualized and integrated manner, involving manufacturers, importers, distributors and sellers, consumers and holders of public urban cleaning and solid waste management services, in accordance with duties and procedures outlined herein.
VII – fostering good practices of socio-environmental responsibility.
IV – commitment to, whenever agreements are entered into with municipalities, participate in actions outlined in the municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste, for products not included in the reverse logistics system.
Art. 32. Packaging shall be manufactured with material that can be reused or recycled.
III – is recycled, if reuse is not possible.
Para. 2. A regulation shall provide on cases which, for technical or economic reasons, do not allow the application of provisions set forth in this Article’s introduction.
II – puts packaging and packaging material into circulation, regardless of their stage in the commerce chain.
VI – electric-electronic appliances and their components.
Para. 1. Under the provisions of a regulation or sectorial agreements entered into by the Public Authority and the entrepreneurial sector, the systems outlined in this Article’s introduction shall be applied to products sold in plastic, metallic or glass packaging, and to other products and packaging, considering the degree and extension of their impact on public health and the environment.
Para. 2. The definition of products and packaging referred to in Para. 1 above shall take into consideration technical and economic feasibility of reverse logistics, as well as the degree and extension of the impact of waste they generate on public health and the environment.
III – work together in partnerships with cooperatives or other forms of association of waste-pickers collecting reusable and recyclable material, in cases outlined in Para. 1.
Para. 4. Consumers shall return products and packaging referred to in items I to VI of the Article’s introduction, and other products or packaging subject to reverse logistics to sellers or distributors, as per Para. 1.
Para. 5. Sellers and distributors shall return products and packaging delivered to them under the terms of Para. 3 and 4 to manufacturers or importers.
Para. 6. Manufacturers or importers shall arrange for the final environmentally-adequate disposal of products and packaging collected or delivered, with final environmentally-adequate waste disposal under the terms established by Sisnama’s competent body, and the municipal plan on integrated management of solid waste, if any.
Para. 7. If the holder of public urban cleaning or solid waste management services, by a sectorial agreement or term of commitment entered into with the entrepreneurial sector, takes charge of activities under the responsibility of manufacturers, importers, distributors and sellers in reverse logistics of products and packaging referred to in the Article, actions by the Public Authority shall be duly compensated in accordance with the form agreed previously between the parties.
Para. 8. Except for consumers, all participants of reverse logistics shall keep updated, complete information of projects under their responsibility available to the competent municipal body and other authorities.
Art. 34. Sectorial agreements or terms of commitment referred to in item IV of the introduction of Art. 31 and in Para. 1 of Art. 33 may have scope at national, regional, state or municipal levels.
Para. 1. Sectorial agreements or terms of commitment entered into at national level prevail over those entered into at regional or state level, which, in turn, prevail over those entered into at municipal level.
Para. 2. When competing rules apply, under the terms of Para. 1, agreements with lesser geographical scope may broaden, but never soften, environmental-protection measures outlined in sectorial agreements and terms of commitment with higher geographical scope.
II – adequately separate reusable and recyclable waste for collection and delivery.
Sole Paragraph. The municipal Public Authority may establish economic incentives to consumers who participate in the selective collection system referred to in this Article’s caput, under the terms of a municipal law.
VI – provide for the final environmentally-adequate disposal of waste and debris generated from public urban cleaning services and solid waste management services.
Para. 1. In order to comply with the provisions in items I to IV of this Article’s introduction, the holder of public urban cleaning and solid waste management services shall prioritize the creation and operation of cooperatives or other forms of association of waste-pickers collecting reusable and recyclable material formed by low-income people, and engage their service.
Para. 2. Hiring individuals as per Para. 1. above does not require a bidding process, under the terms of item XXVII of Art. 24 of Law No. 8,666, of 21 June 1993.
Art. 37. The installation and operation of undertakings or activities that generate or operate with hazardous waste can only be authorized or licensed by the competent authorities if the holder proves to have technical and economic capacity to provide the necessary management to those kinds of waste.
Art. 38. Legal entities operating hazardous waste at any management stage are compulsorily required to register in the National Registering of Hazardous Waste Managers.
Para. 1. The registering referred to in this Article’s introduction shall be coordinated by the federal Sisnama’s competent body and implemented jointly by federal, state and municipal authorities.
Para. 2. For registering purposes, legal entities referred to in this Article’s introduction shall have a technical person responsible for managing hazardous waste, either from their own staff or otherwise hired, with proper qualification, whose personal details shall be updated in the registering.
Para. 3. The registering referred to in this Article’s introduction is part of the Federal Technical Registering of Potentially Polluting Activities and Activities Using Natural Resources and the information system mentioned in Art. 12.
Art. 39. The legal entities referred to in Art. 38 are required to formulate a hazardous solid waste management plan and submit it to the Sisnama’s competent body and, if applicable, the SNVS, in compliance with the minimum established in Art. 21 and other requirements provided by in a regulation or technical norms.
Para. 1. The hazardous solid waste management plan referred to in this Article’s introduction may be inserted in the waste management plan referred to in Art. 20.
IV – immediately inform the relevant bodies on accidents or other occurrences related to hazardous waste.
Para. 3. Whenever requested by Sisnama and SNVS’s competent bodies, access shall be granted for facilities inspection and procedures related to the implementation and operationalization of the hazardous waste management plan.
Para. 4. In case control is exercised by Sisnama and SNVS’s federal or state bodies, information on the content, implementation and operationalization of the plan referred to in this Article’s introduction shall be passed on to the Public Municipal Authority, under the terms of a regulation.
Art. 40. In licensing undertakings or activities which operate with hazardous waste, the Sisnama licensing body may request a public liability insurance cover damages caused to the environment or public health, in compliance with coverage rules and maximum limits established by regulation.
Sole Paragraph. The provisions of this Article’s introduction shall consider enterprise size, under the terms of a regulation.
Art. 41. Notwithstanding the initiatives of other government levels, the Federal Government must structure and keep instruments and activities intended for the promotion of the decontamination of contaminated orphan sites.
Sole Paragraph. If, after the decontamination of an orphan site, carried out with Federal Government funds or other funds, those responsible for contamination are identified, they shall fully refund the Public Authority.
VIII – development of environmental management and entrepreneurial systems intended for the improvement of productive processes and waste reuse.
Art. 43. In supporting or granting incentives to meet the guidelines herein, official credit institutions may establish different access criteria for recipients of the National Financial System for productive investments.
III – companies working with urban cleaning and related activities.
Art. 45. Public consortia constituted under the terms of Law No. 11,107, of 2005, aiming at decentralization and rendering of public services involving solid waste have priority in obtaining incentives from the Federal Government.
Art. 46. Compliance with the terms herein shall be taken into effect in accordance with Supplementary Law No. 101, of 2000 (also known as Fiscal Responsibility Law), as well as guidelines and objectives of the respective multi-year plan, goals and priorities established by laws on budget guidelines and within the limit of annual budgetary laws.
IV – other forms prohibited by the Public Authority.
Para. 1. In case of sanitary emergencies, outdoor solid waste incineration may be carried out, provided that it is authorized and accompanied by competent bodies of Sisnama, SNVS, and, if applicable, Suasa.
Para. 2. Basins for the decantation of industrial or mining waste, provided that they are impermeable and licensed by the Sisnama relevant body, shall not be considered as bodies of water for the purposes of the provisions of item I of this Article’s introduction.
V – other activities prohibited by the Public Authority.
Art. 49. The importation of hazardous solid waste, as well as waste whose characteristics cause damages to the environment, public, animal and vegetation health, is prohibited, even if waste is used for treatment, reform, reuse or recovery.
Art. 50. The lack of the regulation outlined in Para. 3 Art. 21 does not prevent the performance of cooperatives or other forms of association of waste-pickers collecting reusable and recyclable material under the terms herein.
Art. 51. Notwithstanding the obligation of compensating damages regardless of fault, actions or omissions by individuals or corporate bodies that lead to insubordination of the provisions herein or its enforcement regulation, subject offenders to sanctions defined by Law, particularly Law No. 9,605, of 12 February 1998, which “provides on criminal and administrative sanctions applicable to conducts and activities harmful to the environment, and makes other provisions”, and by its enforcement regulation.
Art. 52. Compliance with the provisions outlined in the introduction of Article 23 and Art 39 Para. 2 herein is considered an obligation of relevant environmental interest for the purposes of Art. 68 of Law No. 9,605, of 1998, without prejudice of the enforcement of other applicable sanctions at criminal and administrative levels.
II – whoever deals with, packs, stocks, collects, transports, reuses, recycles or provides for the final disposal of hazardous waste in disagreement with norms established by law or regulation.
Art. 54. In compliance with the provisions of Art. 9 Para. 1, final environmentally-adequate waste disposal shall be implemented within up to 4 (four) years after the date of publication hereof.
Art. 55. Provisions of Arts. 16 and 18 shall enter into force 2 (two) years after the publication hereof. Art. 56. Reverse logistics related to products outlined in the introduction of Art. 33 items V and VI shall be implemented progressively, according to a schedule established by a regulation.
Art. 57. This Law shall enter into force on the day of its publication.
Brasília, 2 August 2010; 189th year of the Independence and 122th year of the Proclamation of the Republic.

References: Art. 1

Art. 2
 Art. 7

Art. 4

Art. 5

Art. 9

Art. 10

Art. 12
 Art. 20
 Art. 47

Art. 16
 Art. 25

Art. 18
 Art. 19
 Art. 20
 Art. 3

Art. 22

Art. 23

Art. 24

Art. 25

Art. 26

Art. 27
 Art. 20
 Art. 24
 Art. 20
 Art. 20
 Art. 19

Art. 28
 Art. 33

Art. 29

Art. 30

Art. 32

Art. 34
 Art. 31
 Art. 33
 Art. 24

Art. 37

Art. 38
 Art. 12

Art. 39
 Art. 38
 Art. 21
 Art. 20

Art. 40

Art. 41

Art. 43

Art. 45

Art. 46

Art. 49

Art. 50
 Art. 21

Art. 51

Art. 52
 Art 39
 Art. 68

Art. 54
 Art. 9

Art. 55
 Art. 56
 Art. 33

Art. 57