Análise da gestão de indicadores ambientais de uma empresa de papel e celulose, com ênfase em consumo de água e geração de efluentes

Abstract

For many years, companies were not concerned with environmental issues. This concern began to gain prominence in the 90s. Companies began to implement environmental management systems, to evaluate their processes and to disseminate environmental results through reports. One of the main reporting models is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The main Pulp and Paper companies adopt this model and often call it Sustainability Report. Through the Sustainability Reports from 2014 to 2018, released by Suzano Papel e Celulose, the analysis of the indicators for water consumption, waste water generation, energy consumption, waste disposal and greenhouse gas emissions was carried out, in order to assess it the environmental management system is effective or has improvements. It was found that, on average, 77% from the water consumption by Suzano Papel e Celulose, in the years 2014 to 2017, returned to rivers as waste water. In 2016, the percentage of return of water as waste water was 73%. High evaporation or some change in the process could justify this result. No relationship was found between high evaporation and less waste water generation and, therefore, it is believed that some change in the process interfered in this result. The company does not address initiatives to reduce waste water generation in its reports, but explores and disseminates a number of initiatives that contribute to reducing water consumption. The more in-depth analysis in relation to the reduction in the generation of waste water could be further explored by the company. Energy consumption is also a significant aspect of the process, however, few environmental initiatives have been presented in the company's Sustainability Reports. In the literature, many energy saving opportunities were found that could be implemented in the production units. Waste management is a point of attention since the waste data are not standardized, some incorrect information was found and the explanations are often not consistent with the figures released. The management of direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases is effective, however, emissions made by third parties are little analyzed by the company and are not in accordance with the guidelines of ABNT NBR ISO14001: 2015. As a general conclusion, it is clear that the company Suzano Papel e Celulose has a well-implemented environmental management system, but the continuous improvement of processes must be better considered in order to reduce the environmental impacts caused by the process.