AGROLOG x : site responsivo para Logística Reversa de embalagens de agrotóxicos em Pernambuco, Brasil.

Abstract

The urge to increase world food production raises questions about pesticide usage and its consequences. Previous studies point out Brazil among the countries that most consume and export these products in the world, and so the accurate destination of empty packaging, in addition to being provided for by law at national, state, and municipal levels, is matter of environmental and public health concern. In the country, the use of pesticides affects public health, from workers and their families through direct exposure, to the final consumer, by the ingestion of products containing pesticide residues, while inadequate storage generates long-term or irreversible negative impacts on the environment. In order to facilitate the Reverse Logistics (RL) of empty pesticide containers statewide, this paper aimed to build the responsive website AGROLOGx, in order to contribute to the fulfillment of shared responsibility in RL of empty pesticide containers in the state of Pernambuco. To this end, complementary analyzes were carried out to serve as a basis for the site, which indicated that the relationship between Reverse Logistics and pesticides is still poorly discussed within the scientific environment, especially in the country. It was also seen that the relationship between the rural producer, knowledge and compliance with pesticide-related laws is improving and with positive outcomes within the shared responsibility, but there are still gaps that depend on the continuity of actions carried out with rural producers. Concerning packaging collection points, two active centers were found in Pernambuco, one in Carpina and another in Petrolina. Alternatively, pesticide sellers and municipal consortia may play an important role to the decentralization of these collection points statewide. As the main product, AGROLOGx was developed on Salesforce platform by applying the mobile-first concept. The responsive website allows users to schedule empty pesticide package dropoff at verified collection points, browse current pesticide-related legislation and proper packaging disposal instructions, in addition to request registration of new collection points. In terms of managerial use, the management team may perform changes via logged area to the collection points, adjustments to registered and displayed legislation, in addition to generating reports from previous collection. Thus, AGROLOGx comes as a responsive website connecting different actors in shared responsibility of pesticide packaging statewide, easy to use and accessible, in addition to allowing the expansion and decentralization of collection points. In this way, the website helps to reduce logistical costs for rural producers and contributes to reducing environmental impacts from poor storage and inadequate disposal of pesticide packaging in Pernambuco. Finally, through AGROLOGx, similar RL initiatives of difficult-to-recycle waste are expected to be stimulated and promoted in Pernambuco.