Brazilian Federal Government Establishes the Waste Shipment Manifest as a Management Tool

As of January 1, 2021, solid waste generators are obliged to use the Waste Shipment Manifest (“MTR” in Portuguese acronym) – an online tool, self-declaratory and issued by the National Information System on Solid Waste Management (“SINIR” in Portuguese acronym) – to declare the handling and disposal of waste throughout the national territory.

The Ministry of the Environment issued Ordinance No. 280/2020, establishing that the MTR will be mandatory to all generators of waste subject to a Solid Waste Management Plan, as a tool capable of tracking the bulk waste, controlling the generation, temporary storage, transportation and disposal of solid waste in Brazil.

According to the Regulation, the generator will be solely responsible for issuing the MTR form at SINIR, for each solid waste shipment, and the MTR must track the waste transportation up to and including its final environmentally appropriate disposal.

The generators will have until March 31 of each year, starting in 2021, to report complementary information to that already declared on the MTR, referring to the previous year, for the drafting and submission to the Waste Management National Inventory through the link inventario.sinir.gov.br.

Waste shipment that is not in compliance with applicable legislation may result in administrative and criminal environmental penalties, such as possible seizure of the vehicle and the load, application of a fine, among others, in addition to the obligation to repair any possible environmental damage caused.

Demarest’s environmental team is available to support with further information and define measures to be taken in each particular case.