Otavio Augusto Rezende Carvalheira is a veteran metals industry leader with 35+ years in global aluminium operations. As former President of Alcoa Brazil and current Senior Advisor to AL Circle and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), he brings deep expertise in recycling systems, industrial strategy and circular value chains across major markets.
In an interview for “Sustainability & Recycling: Aluminium's Dual Commitment” e-Magazine, Otavio provided some great insights into Brazil’s world-leading aluminium can recycling model, the critical role of waste pickers, industrial investments, reverse logistics, scrap retention policies, and the projected surge in scrap demand by 2030. It also examines how global mechanisms like CBAM are reshaping recycling competitiveness and secondary aluminium production.
AL Circle: Brazil is one of the world’s largest aluminium beverage can recyclers. What, according to you, has driven the nation and its people to embrace recycling so effectively? What key lessons can other countries take from Brazil’s recycling success story?
Otavio: Brazil’s success in aluminium can recycling is a remarkable phenomenon, sustained by an ecosystem that organically and efficiently integrates industry, society, and the regulatory framework. For well over a decade, the country’s UBC recovery rates have consistently remained at record levels, above 95% placing Brazil at the global forefront of aluminium circularity. This superior performance results from a convergence of factors:
I. Market Structure and Industrial Investment: The aluminium industry in Brazil has demonstrated a lasting commitment to this cycle. Key players have established a robust and extensive logistics network of scrap collection and processing centers across the entire national territory. Through continuous investment in industrial capacity and cutting-edge technology, the sector ensures that post-consumer scrap is rapidly reintroduced into the system, keeping the supply chain well-stocked and highly competitive.
II. The Social Catalyst Factor: The sometimes invisible and irreplaceable engine of this success is the highly efficient and organised network of waste pickers (catadores). They guarantee the massive collection of the material. This efficiency is amplified by the high intrinsic value of aluminium, which provides a natural economic attractiveness to the collection effort.
III. Regulatory Framework as an Enabler: Brazil’s environmental legislation, enacted early in the last decade, formalised the principles that provide the foundation for this circularity:
• Shared Responsibility and Reverse Logistics: The legal framework instituted the concept of Shared Responsibility for the Product Life Cycle. This mandates that the packaging industry structure and invest in Reverse Logistics systems, ensuring cans return to the productive cycle.
• Recognition of the Collector Network: The national solid waste policy prioritises the contracting and formal integration of waste picker cooperatives and associations. This legal recognition is crucial for integrating this social contingent and ensuring the continuity and efficacy of selective collection.
• Fiscal Incentives for Recycling: More recently, fiscal incentive mechanisms have been promulgated, allowing individuals and legal entities to deduct contributions to recycling projects from their due taxes. This measure aims to direct private capital toward strengthening and expanding the entire recycling industry infrastructure.
In summary, the Brazilian model represents a unique synergy between the high value of an infinitely recyclable material, strategic industrial investment, and a regulatory framework that leverages a socially integrated workforce, transforming aluminium recycling into a global benchmark.
AL Circle: What demand growth do you foresee in aluminium scrap in Brazil by 2030 with the increasing demand for recycled products?
Otavio: We are seeing powerful momentum. Based on the latest figures from ABAL (the Brazilian Aluminium Association), the total volume of scrap recovered in Brazil—including imported material—reached about 1.07 million tonnes in 2024. That’s a very solid six per cent growth over the previous year, which tells you the market is already pushing hard for recycled metal.
Looking toward 2030, with the country’s huge push for sustainability and the core economic drivers in play, we are highly optimistic. Historically, the demand for aluminium semi fabricated products in Brazil has tended to grow at about twice the rate of GDP. Given the intensifying need for lightweight, circular solutions across automotive, construction, and especially packaging, it’s very likely we’ll see the required volume of recycled products climb to between 1.3 and 1.4 million tons by the end of the decade.
The critical factor here isn’t the supply of scrap; Brazil already leads globally in collecting streams like beverage cans, but the domestic capacity to process all of that scrap. To meet that forecasted demand, the industry needs to aggressively ramp up its capacity.
The good news is that key players are recognising this. We’re already seeing major local and international companies announce significant investment intentions to expand recycling and rolling capacity. This is a clear signal that the industry is committed to building the necessary infrastructure to truly make Brazil a dominant force in the global low-carbon aluminium supply chain.
So, the short answer is: strong, double-digit growth is fully anticipated, but execution on processing capacity will be the bottleneck we have to watch closely.
To read the complete interview, click here.
