RECYCLING AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE PREVIL PROJECT EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Thanks to PET - Polyethylene Terephthalate, which is considered the best and most resistant type of plastic, that can be fully recycled, in the last twenty years a growing recycling industry has become feasible in the world. The present article, in this sense, arose from the results of an extension project promoted by the Department of Economics of the Regional University of Cariri (URCA), entitled "Economic and Environmental Assistance to the Project of Free Life Rehabilitation - PREVIL", conducted by same authors of this article. PREVIL is supported by the Baptist Church through donations in the city of Crato in Ceará and aiming to resocialize people who are at risk on the streets due to drug use, mental illness and / or family abandonment. Among the several actions carried out by PREVIL, we highlight the workshop for the manufacture of brooms from the recycling of PET bottles as a form of occupation and generation of income. Technical visits of the extension project, showed the need to study the production costs of recycled brooms of PET bottles, considering the final price of the brooms that currently is R$8.00/Un. This economic problem, which certainly also affects the social and environmental variables of PREVIL, was the starting point of the research in order to achieve the following objectives: (i) to analyze the cash flow of the broom manufacturing workshop for the PET bottle recycling and (ii) to demonstrate the financial viability of this project. The methodology used in this work consisted of an economic-financial feasibility analysis, this analysis was performed through the following indicators: Benefit / Cost Ratio (B / C), Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). All the research data were of primary origin collected in the several technical visits to the PREVIL Project. The results of the research indicated that the project to manufacture brooms, from the recycling of PET bottles, is financially feasible and the final sales price of each broom is R$8.00/Un.