Reverse Logistics: An Analysis of Business Communication on Discarding Electrical Bicycle Batteries

Reverse post-consumer logistics is a process that consists of returning certain goods to the production chain. There is to provide an appropriate and sustainable destination for a series of items that would most likely be discarded inappropriately. Since the sanction of the National Solid Waste Policy in 2010, it has been mandatory for companies to structure reverse logistics programs and communicate to their consumers about what to do after the end of their products. Four Brazilian companies in electric bicycle manufacturers have become the object of this study. We did research through the consumer’s view of this good to diagnose the communication of reverse logistics programs of the chosen companies. In addition, the study was complemented with an analysis of the potential market, identifying whether reverse logistics is a competitive advantage. The results show that the four studied companies are not in accordance with current legislation. Through the questionnaire results with 238 people, we conclude that it is a competitive advantage for the company to disclose the destination of its post-consumption product.


Introduction
At the beginning of the 21st century, electric energy storage technologies passed through innovations capable of bringing viability to the use of the electric vehicle as a means of transportation. Electric bicycles appear in this panorama since they seek the concept of no emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases during their operation (Cardoso, 2018). be creative, persuasive, and planned so that the message is encouraged to the consumer and makes him understand that it is part of the company's value. The Channels pillar encompasses the means of contact so that the consumer has access to the message that wants to be passed. The content pillar is interconnected with the channel pillar, as the company must offer through channels the content that consumers are looking for.
The last pillar of the CIM, Results, focuses on assessing how the communication programmer impacted the people who received the information. The evaluation has a feature known as the Key Performance Indicator (KPI). In the case of evaluating the results of the communication of reverse logistics programs, the most appropriate indicator is behavior to assess the change and trend of consumer behavior.
The four pillars build the goal of the CIM to create a strategy to generate an image that shapes the behavior of the target audience (Bernyte, 2018). Thus, the planning of mandatory communication established by PNRS, based on CIM, becomes the primary strategy to bring the necessary knowledge to consumers (Stock & Mulki, 2009).

The Research
This article aims to identify how certain companies' manufacturers of electric bicycles in Brazil communicate to their consumers the existence of reverse logistics programs and strategies for the batteries of their bicycles after the end of the life cycle useful product.
The study universe is the electric bicycle market in Brazil. The chosen companies are: Lev Bicicletas, Sousa Motos, Rio South and Bicicletas Blitz. The study was conducted around the information on the disposal of electric batteries passed on to consumers.
On the following topics are the detailed search results for each channel.

Canal Website
This research aimed to find information on discarding and recycling electrical batteries, the fate of the material that will be collected, maleficence about the incorrect disposal, and the benefits of reverse logistics. The website search was done with each page, tab, and document analysis.
According to Table 1, the analysis of the websites shows that none of the companies studied openly present any information regarding the reverse logistics, disposal, or recycling of electric bicycle batteries. When accessing each tab of the sites, the company Blitz was the only one who presented battery disposal information on the "Blog" tab. Despite knowing, the company leaves vague as disposal and recycling are done and does not quote any reverse logistics program or destination of the products collected.
About the harmful effects of inappropriate disposal, the company did not mention the effects of the type of battery marking, which is the lithium battery. None of the websites presented any information about the benefits of recycling.

Electronic Mail Channel
Through e-mail, a guide of questions was prepared that seeks to answer questions about the existence of reverse logistics programs, disposal and destination of electric bicycle batteries, and knowledge about the current legislation. The e-mail addresses were made available on the websites. The itinerary has the questions presented down.
• How can I discard the battery of my electric bicycle?
• Are there any programs of logistics reverse of these batteries?
• What is the destiny of the discarded batteries?
• Do you recycle the batteries? How is it performed?
• In case there is an outsourced company, how do they discard them? What are the names of the enterprise, and in which periodicity the batteries are collected?
• Are the enterprises aware of the Brazilian Law n. 12.305/10 (National Politics of Solid Residues -PNRS)?
Sousa Motos, replied that the partner companies' resellers of batteries have registration at IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural) and are authorized to collect, route, and recycle the batteries of electric bicycles. The value of the scrap price for recycling was reported, but there was no explanation of the process.
Lev Bicicletas responded that it is responsible for all the bicycle parts, so the disposal should be done in their stores. After collecting, an unnamed partner collects and evaluates the condition of the battery components. If they are damaged, they are sent to specific disposal points. In case of good condition, they are reused in smaller factories.
The companies Blitz and Rio South did not respond, demonstrating the lack of effectiveness of the message on this channel.

Canal SAC
For the SAC, the employees responsible for the care of each company were interviewed. The same script was applied via e-mail, through contact via phone, or Whatsapp made available on websites.
The contact with Blitz was on Whatsapp. They say that the disposal of batteries should be done in their physical stores. The official said he has no type of reverse logistics program and is unaware of the legislation. After the consumer is disposed of in their store, the batteries are forwarded to the responsibility of the third-party company, Energy Source. This company will continue the disposal process by making the withdrawal of Blitz physical stores. The outsourced company does the battery recycling procedure by Whatsapp.
The Lev reported that the battery could be left in one of its stores, and a third-party company, whose name is unknown, disposed of it after collecting the batteries in the stores. It was not informed if the contracted company carried out the recycling of batteries, and there is no reverse logistics program. The official did not know the legislation.
The Sousa Motos was contacted through the phone available on its website. As their factory is in Manaus, they said to dispose of their batteries; you must send them to their address. The customer pays the cost. It is not detailed if the recycling is done. The employee had knowledge about the PNRS.
No contact with Rio South. The phone was not working.

Technical Support
Following the electronic mail channel and SAC route, an interview was done with the employees present in the store to evaluate this channel.
At the Rio South store, employees reported that disposal should be done in one of their stores. A third-party company collects and recycles the functional parts of the battery. There is no reverse logistics program. The employees did not know about the legislation.
In the Lev Bicicletas shop, it was answered that the disposal must be carried out in any of their stores or should be contacted by the service for the collection of parts made available for free. Each month the subsidiaries forward their batteries to a third-party company. They detailed that the company evaluates the components, reuses those in good condition, and makes the correct disposal of the remaining components. There are no reverse logistics programs, and employees are unaware of the legislation.
Sousa Motos technical assistance was present. The employee said to dispose of it just dropped in the store and they forward to the factory in Manaus. The official revealed that he did not have detailed information on the disposal or recycling of these batteries. There is no knowledge of reverse logistics programs or legislation.
Blitz's technical assistance employee reported that the batteries must be forwarded to one of the units. Every  rmed with a sa f electrical bat n the subject an ht the public w 021, obtained 2 ong the respond estern center i   Table 4 sh portion, 45   In this sur Figure 10.
Source: Prep Table 5 sh legislation Based on the survey data, the website is the most sought-after channel by consumers to obtain information, although none of the websites presented reports from existing reverse logistics programs. It was clearly and easily accessible; it was not informed about the disposal or recycling of batteries. Communication management does not occur efficiently, and the results prove that most did in household waste among consumers who have already discarded their batteries.
On the stakeholders, it was noticed that the officials and authorized distributors did not receive training adapted to go over again the necessary information to the consumers and to the one who has the intention of purchase, demonstrating that the communication must go beside the consumers since they all are affected by the lack of knowledge of the information of the internal clients. The latter should contribute to the effectiveness of Integrated Marketing Communication.
The non-existence of reverse logistics programs in manufacturing companies can be circumvented by hiring outsourced companies that can perform the adequacy of the contractor legislation. However, it does not absolve the responsibility of the company to train its employees responsible for the service channels so that more efficient communication management occurs.
The majority of consumers, 58.1% of the sample, and possible buyers, 71.3%, consider a decisive factor in their purchase to know that manufacturers companies care about the correct disposal of their product after consumption.
There is no unified message, facilitating consumers' understanding and awareness and not allowing new buyers to be attracted to competitive advantage. In this way, it is found that the chosen manufacturers do not operate their communication channels efficiently and are not in accordance with the current legislation.
Marketing, by integrating with sustainability, offers something beyond the construction of a responsible image for society. This provides information to the consumer and on the subject of reverse logistics is an effective means of environmental awareness, stimulating sustainable actions.