How the Brazilian government can use public policies to induce recycling and still save money?

Public policies can leverage the recycling of materials. However, there is no clear guidance on how to use such policies and still spare public funds. To fill this gap, a multiple-case study was undertaken in Brazil. Eleven companies that can produce new products using the waste generated by their customers were investigated. The findings contribute by suggesting how governments can economically use taxes, sanctions, incentives and other public instruments to induce recycling. Tax exemptions are not required when the waste recycled reduces the manufacturer's costs or generates revenue for customers who produce it and/or for the scrap dealers who collect it. Sanctions or penalties imposed on the manufacturer's customers can increase the recycling efforts of such manufacturers when the recycling is technically feasible but not economically attractive. Sanctions are ineffective when wastes have a good market value or are widespread over millions of generation points. For such cases, the public policies should focus on community awareness campaigns and attention on waste pickers. Incentives for the technological development can be provided to wastes that present a good market value but do not have an economical recycling technology available. Granting resources to universities and technological institutes will help spread the solution to SME companies. By better understanding how to apply public instruments, the governments will be able to save funds on tax exemptions, better define sanctions, focus its community awareness campaigns, focus its waste pickers support, and better allocate funds to support the development of new recycling technologies.