Frequently asked questions
- Aracruz Celulose has been based in Espírito Santo for more than 30 years. What economic and social benefits has the Company brought to this region?
- What has been Aracruz' contribution to the job market in its home region?
- Does Aracruz develop partnerships with other companies?
- What have been Aracruz's contributions to establishing silvicultural guidelines in Brazil?
- In view of an expanding global market, what are Aracruz's targets for the next few years?
- How does Aracruz view the issue of a company's social responsibility?
- What has Aracruz been doing in the area of socio-economic development?
- Does the Company disseminate its eucalyptus planting experience to the region's small farmers?
- What does the sustainable use of natural resources mean to Aracruz?
- Is the pulp and paper industry the main consumer of wood in Brazil?
- Aren't Aracruz' plantations poor in biodiversity?
- What other environmental protection measures has Aracruz taken at the pulp mill?
- What is Aracruz during to adjust itself to the requirements of the Kyoto Treaty?
- Aracruz's operations involve the cutting down of trees and industrial processes. Does the Company contribute to increasing the greenhouse effect?
- Did Aracruz remove Atlantic rainforest to establish eucalyptus plantations in Espírito Santo?
- Why does Aracruz plant only eucalyptus to produce wood and pulp and not other species?
- Do eucalyptus plantations contribute to the destruction of tropical native forests in Brazil?
- Do Brazil's eucalyptus plantations take up areas that otherwise could be used for food crops?
- Don't eucalyptus plantations impoverish the soil?
- What about eucalyptus' requirements of water?
- Besides pulp production, what other uses are there for eucalyptus trees?
- Aren't species like eucalyptus more easily attacked by disease and pests than native trees?
- How is wood transported until the pulp mills?
- Does this maritime transportation system affect the environment in the region?
- How does Aracruz assure the high productivity of its plantations?
- What is Aracruz' pulp production process?
- Why does the Company still use chlorine compounds in the pulp bleaching process?
- Does Aracruz use agricultural defense systems on its eucalyptus plantations?
- What care does Aracruz take when it applies its agricultural defenses?
- What does Aracruz do about the odor produced by the pulp mill? Is this odor harmful to people's health?
Economic aspects
Relationship with the communities
Natural resources
About the eucalyptus tree
Operational questions
1. Aracruz Celulose has been based in Espírito Santo for more than 30 years. What economic and social benefits has the Company brought to this region?
Aracruz helped Espírito Santo discover an economic niche ignored prior to its arrival: forestry activities employing renewable eucalyptus plantations and using innovative scientific concepts, oriented by the principles of sustainable development.
At the end of the 1960s, the economy of Espírito Santo was in a state of total stagnation. Successive wood and charcoal cycles had come to an end, with corresponding devastation of native forests in the area. Together with other large projects set up in the same region, the implementation of Aracruz' forestry program and pulp making operations helped revert this situation and turned it into one of the largest Brazilian exporting states.
The Company has made more than US$4 billion in investments in Espírito Santo since the start-up of its activities. Because it opted to install its pulp mill in the rural municipality of Aracruz, the Company also had to invest in urban and highway infrastructure, education, health, and cultural and leisure activities. Over the years some US$100 million has been earmarked for these purposes alone.
In 2007 the Getúlio Vargas Foundation Projects released the study "From trees to homes". The report examines Aracruz's socioeconomic importance to the regions in which it operates (Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia) and to the country as a whole. The complete study can be seen here
2. What has been Aracruz' contribution to the job market in its home region?
At the end of 2006, Aracruz was responsible for the generation of 11,659 direct jobs, including 2,361 of its own employees (including international subsidiaries and Portocel) and 9,298 permanently outsourced workers. The average age of its own employees is 38 years old and they have been working for the Company for an average of 13 years; 53.4% of them have completed at least a high school education and 78% are natives of the States of Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.
One of the Company’s priorities is to permanently ensure the qualification of its employees, and for this Aracruz continually invests in training programs. In 2006, some R$5 million was invested; employees participated in an average of 37 hours of training per year.
In 2006, Aracruz was classified for the third year in a row as the best company to work for in the paper and pulp industry by the Exame Você S/A – The 150 Best Companies For You to Work for guide, which reflects the satisfaction of employees about the company.
3. Does Aracruz develop partnerships with other companies?
In order to achieve high levels of efficiency in all of the sectors that indirectly support its core activity - the production of pulp - Aracruz has been establishing partnerships over the past few years with specialized companies that have activities in its fields of activity. These partnerships have increased the productivity and competitiveness of both Aracruz and its partners.
In 2006, the 182 companies that provide services to Aracruz, taken as a whole, employed approximately 7,000 workers, among permanent and temporary employees.
Partner companies undergo rigorous selection according to competence standards and their specific specialization in their fields of expertise. Besides complying with all legal regulations (tax and labor norms), the partners assume a contractual commitment to respect Aracruz internal guidelines, mainly regarding workplace conditions (hygiene, a job medicine and safety) and the environment.
4. What have been Aracruz's contributions to establishing silvicultural guidelines in Brazil?
Aracruz contributed to the consolidation of the Brazilian Forestry Certification System (CERFLOR), which became operational in 2003. Furthermore, it supports the efforts for the development of a Mutual International Recognition Mechanism that is open to all credible forest certification systems.
Aracruz's forestry management techniques and its groundbreaking work in the development of clonal plantations on a commercial scale earned the Company the Marcus Wallenberg Prize from Sweden in 1984, the most important distinction from the world forestry science community. In 1991, Aracruz received the XIII Technology Prize from the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios of São Paulo.
More information about Forestry Certification can be found on our Annual and Sustainability Report.
5. In view of an expanding global market, what are Aracruz's targets for the next few years?
Aracruz intends to supply 25% of the world demand for hardwood market pulp ─ or 7 million tons ─ in the next 10 years, which means doubling its production capacity, significantly increasing the generation of value to shareholders and society.
Investments in the Units
Barra do Riacho
The Company began the Optimization Project 2330 at Barra do Riacho Unit, in Espírito Santo. The project should be concluded during the second half of 2007 and represents an investment of US$192 million. The objective is to increase production by 2.33 million tons per year. The OP 2330 construction work was initiated during the first half of 2006. During the execution of the project, some 1,880 jobs are expected to be generated. Of this total, about 80% will consist of local manpower, injecting more than R$20 million into the region in the form of salaries and social taxes. Once in operation, the investment will generate 200 direct jobs, because of the increase in silviculture and forest harvesting activities. The Project 2330 also will offer environmental benefits, such as:
- Greater efficiency in the removal of contaminants from the effluents after the installation of new pulp scrubbers for Fiberline C's pulp Purifying and Bleaching processes;
- Reduction of the amount of chemicals used in Fiberline B, with a new acid stage installed;
- Through the new evaporation plant, there will be greater combustion stability in the recovery boilers as well as improvements in terms of contaminated condensates, permitting their use in the process instead of water. Moreover, emissions through the chimney can be better controlled;
- With the new system for feeding the A digestor, there will be wood use savings and a reduction in the load of chemical products during the cooking process - and, consequently, a reduced use of chemicals for bleaching purposes;
- With the flaring off of concentrated non-condensable gases in recovery boiler C, the system will be more stable, reducing possible atmospheric leaks in the event of emergency shutdowns;
- With the new emergency burner to be installed in the recovery boilers, the emissions, during mill shutdowns or startups, will be substantially reduced.
Guaíba
Located in the municipality of Guaíba, Rio Grande do Sul, the Guaíba Unit underwent a modernization process concluded in 2006, and today is equipped with high technology and the capacity to produce 430,000 tons annually of bleached eucalyptus pulp.
In the first half of 2006, Aracruz signed protocols of intention with the state and municipal governments in Rio Grande do Sul to make a new production line feasible, with capacity for the production of 1.3 million tons per year of pulp. The project calls for the construction of a new pulp line alongside the current mill, which today produces 430,000 tons/year. The intention is to reach production of about 1.8 million tons/year of pulp, in order to make the Guaíba Unit competitive on world terms.
Veracel
Inaugurated in September 2005, Veracel Celulose required an investment of US$1.25 billion in partnership with Stora Enso (each with a 50% ownership stake). With Veracel's startup, Aracruz increased its total production by 450,000 tons/year of bleached eucalyptus pulp.
Visit Veracel's web site at www.veracel.com.br
6. How does Aracruz view the issue of a company's social responsibility?
Aracruz understands that a company's main responsibility is to generate wealth - and, consequently, jobs and taxes - through investment, acting in a way that is beneficial to society and the environment. This is what the Company has been striving for since its inception. Since 1989, in taxes alone, Aracruz generated more than US$1,232 million. More than US$4,951 million was invested in the purchase of materials and services.
Besides the benefits that result from its daily operations, Aracruz runs a number of social activities in the regions where it operates. The Company invests both human and financial resources in projects designed to bring about self-sustaining results for the communities that are benefited.
For further information about our social projects click here.
7. What has Aracruz been doing in the area of socio-economic development?
In 2006, Aracruz invested US$7.7 million in a number of different social projects, with the priority focus being on education and programs that stimulate economic and social development in the regions where the Company has operations in Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.
The most significant example of the Company's social work is the Formar Project, which seeks to improve elementary school teachers development, in the north of Espírito Santo.
Aracruz also supports the Faith through Action Project, an initiative focused on providing formal education and technical training to needy children in the Greater Vitória area, and the Araçá Project, which has the same goal in the Espírito Santo municipality of São Mateus.
Read more about Aracruz’s social investment on our Annual and Sustainability report.
8. Does the Company disseminate its eucalyptus planting experience to the region's small farmers?
Yes, and with excellent results. Through its Forestry Partners Program, some 81,700 hectares of eucalyptus have already been planted, of a total of 88,300 hectares that have been contracted for, in 156 communities in Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro.
The Forestry Partners Program is a partnership between the Company and rural producers that guarantees the use of idle land, generation of new sources of income and diversification of farming activities. At the same time, the program provides the Company with an alternative source of wood while contributing to the preservation of native forest remnants on participating farm properties.
The program, that completed 15 years in 2006, involves more than 3,000 contracts nowadays. Through the contracts, Aracruz furnishes farmers with seedlings, raw materials and technical assistance, and purchases wood from their first harvest. The average contract area in the program is 24.4 hectares. The Forestry Partners Program should be responsible in 2007 for approximately 11% of the total supply of wood, and is expected to stabilize at about 24% by 2011.
Moreover, since 1986 the Company has maintained an agreement with the Espírito Santo State Agricultural Secretariat as part of its goal to recuperate the region's forest cover. Through this accord, Aracruz already has distributed some 57 million eucalyptus seedlings produced in its own nurseries benefiting approximately 20,000 rural landowners.
To learn more about this subject, please visit the following web site: www.produtorflorestal.com.br
9. What does the sustainable use of natural resources mean to Aracruz?
Aracruz believes that to protect the environment is to protect its own future. In the final analysis, the success of any undertaking employing natural resources depends more than anything upon its capacity for adequately managing and renewing these resources to ensure their perpetual availability.
Aracruz works with this vision, and its commitment to the concept of sustainable development is widely recognized today, both in Brazil and abroad. In forestry, the Company's research in the fields of silviculture, biotechnology and forest management seeks to assure the sustainability of natural resources.
At its mills, investments are continuously being made to improve control of effluents, emissions and wastes in order to minimize the environmental impact of pulp production.
To learn more about Aracruz's commitment to the sustainable use of natural resources, read the Company's position papers regarding climate change, use of pesticides and forestry certification.
10. Is the pulp and paper industry the main consumer of wood in Brazil?
All of the wood required for pulp production in Brazil comes from plantations, mainly eucalyptus and pinus. About 62% of Brazilian wood consumption is for energy purposes, mostly firewood or charcoal used by individuals and small rural communities. The pulp and paper industry consumes only 13% of the total.
11. Aren't Aracruz' plantations poor in biodiversity?
While all homogeneous crops harbor a lesser quantity of biodiversity than a native forest, Aracruz's combination of eucalyptus plantations interspersed with Atlantic Forest remnants ensures the preservation of a rich amount of biodiversity.
This is evident in the results of a monitoring activity project that the Company has carried out in a watershed basin on its property. Data collected shows that of the 456 bird species identified at the site, 10 are threatened with extinction, 45 are rare and 30 are endemic. The same study shows that there are 145 arboreal species undergoing a process of regeneration in the eucalyptus understory and over 558 arboreal species per hectare in the native forest sections. These numbers reinforce the importance of having protected areas integrated together with the plantations.
Learn more about the Aracruz Watershed Project and its results.
Also read about Aracruz's actions to preserve biodiversity.
12. What other environmental protection measures has Aracruz taken at the pulp mill?
Since the start up of its industrial activities, Aracruz already has invested more than US$300 million for environmental protection. The Company has installed highly modern pollution control systems at its mills.
Barra do Riacho Unit
At the Barra do Riacho Unit, low-odor boilers, electrostatic precipitators and gas scrubbers are used for treating atmospheric emissions.
Moreover, effluents are treated in six biological lagoons before being pumped through an underwater pipe (3 underwater outflow pipes that make it possible to better distribute and dilute the treated effluent plume) pipe to an outlet 1.7 km off the coast at a depth of 17 meters, assuring a high rate of dilution and minimal environmental impact.
The efficiency of these steps is checked through systematic monitoring of the coastal waters near the mill. These studies, carried out in conjunction with the Federal University of Espírito Santo as well as government and non-governmental institutions, up to now have not detected any significant alterations to the marine environment.
Guaíba Unit
After acquisition of the unit in July 2003, Aracruz incorporated a number of technological improvements. In fact, this already had been done before the acquisition through of the Riocell 2000 Project, which eliminated the use of elemental chlorine at the Unit. The improvements after Aracruz took over were related mainly to the System for the Elimination of Odorous Gases.
Another enhancement consisted of improving the performance of the ETE through the cleaning of the emergency Lagoon.
A new center for the treatment and recycling of solid industrial wastes was inaugurated before Aracruz acquired Riocell. Aracruz merely finalized some modifications that were necessary and subsequently made improvements that proved necessary.
Aracruz also carried out improvements in a former area used for the disposal of solid wastes, part of the Company's environmental liabilities.
13. What is Aracruz during to adjust itself to the requirements of the Kyoto Treaty?
Aracruz has closely followed the long process leading to the entry into effect of the Kyoto Treaty in February 2005. The Company has established multi-annual targets for the reduction of its emissions and has hired studies regarding the contribution of eucalyptus to the sequestering of carbon from the atmosphere.
In 2003, Aracruz invested in the construction of a marine terminal to establish an ocean-going transportation system for the shipment of eucalyptus logs. The startup of the terminal made it possible to reduce the number of logging truck trips by some 100 per day.
In 2004, a protocol for measuring Aracruz's emissions was developed. Since then, we have been conducting annual surveys of the quantity of carbon emitted as well as the quantity of carbon captured by the Company's forest reserves. Using the information generated by these surveys, it will be possible to more accurately estimate the contribution of Aracruz. This data will be published by the Company.
Learn more about the climate change issue.
14. Aracruz's operations involve the cutting down of trees and industrial processes. Does the Company contribute to increasing the greenhouse effect?
Aracruz still has not conducted a complete study of this question. Currently, the Company quantifies its emissions of greenhouse gases and also the quantity of carbon that is absorbed by its forests. This information is made available through our web site.
The balance between our greenhouse gas emissions and the absorption of carbon through the growth of its forests is positive - that is, the Company absorbs more carbon compared to what it emits through its forestry and industrial operations. Thus, it can be preliminarily concluded that Aracruz is contributing to a reduction of the greenhouse effect.
The Kyoto treaty still has not placed the issue of commercial forest growth as one of its priorities for the presentation of projects. This could be considered after 2012.
Aracruz joined the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) in 2005, and was the first Latin American company to commit itself to GHG emisson reduction tergets. The targets assumed by the Company with the CCX establish emission reductions of 1% in 2003, 2% in 2004, 3% in 2005 and 4% in 2006, compared to the baseline.
Currently, the Company is undergoing an outside audit by two international verification organizations. One of these audits relates to the qualification processes for the eucalyptus forest carbon stock and the choice of areas that are part of the CCX project. The second audit related to the checking of information sent to the CCX regarding total GHGs emissions of Barra do Riacho and Guaíba Units since 2003. All the data has been approved, however the information regarding 2005 is under evaluation.
Learn more about Aracruz's position regarding climate change.
15. Did Aracruz remove Atlantic rainforest to establish eucalyptus plantations in Espírito Santo?
Aracruz established its first eucalyptus plantations in Espírito Santo as of the mid 1960s. Most of the land it purchased for planting eucalyptus forests was already quite deforested due to coffee farming and a lumbering cycle in the region that had lasted for more than half a century. To have an idea, at that time more than 40 sawmills were in operation in the municipality of Aracruz alone and native and secondary timber in the region was cut down for making charcoal and other forest products.
The establishment of the first plantations in Espírito Santo complied with the requirements of the legislation of that time. Nevertheless, it is a fact that the environmental legislation in the 1960s was not as stringent as it is nowadays. Due to this, some isolated and weakened native forest fragments might have been removed during the initial phase of the planting process. But throughout the last few decades, Aracruz has not only preserved considerable tracts of native forest on its lands but also restored additional areas.
Nowadays, it protects more than 154,000 hectares of native reserves and associated ecosystems in Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia, interspersed with a total of 279,000 hectares of its eucalyptus plantations. Existing satellite photos show that the proportion of native ecosystems today is much higher in Aracruz's areas than in the surrounding areas, which are almost entirely deforested.
Learn more about Aracruz's position for preserving natural resources and biodiversity by clicking here.
16. Why does Aracruz plant only eucalyptus to produce wood and pulp and not other species?
Eucalyptus offers several advantages compared to other forest species, including native trees. Thanks to Brazil's favorable climate and the Company's achievements in forestry research and technology, Aracruz' eucalyptus (in its plantations located in Espírito Santo and Bahia) can be harvested at an average age of six years for pulp production pulp manufacturing — when it reaches 35 meters in height.
For Lyptus, noble wood used for decoration and the production of furniture, the eucalyptus is harvested on average at 18 years of age.
Read more about Aracruz's actions in favor of the coexistence of native species with eucalyptus plantations.
17. Do eucalyptus plantations contribute to the destruction of tropical native forests in Brazil?
No, eucalyptus plantations should be seen as a complement to native forests, and never as a substitute for them. Fast-growing tree plantations contribute to the reduction of the world's - and Brazil's - wood deficit.
Wood consumption in Brazil is currently estimated at 358 million cubic meters per year. Of this total, only 150 million cubic meters are supplied by wood from plantations. The balance (58%) comes from native forests.
18. Do Brazil's eucalyptus plantations take up areas that otherwise could be used for food crops?
The territory in Espírito Santo where the majority of Aracruz's plantations are located, totals 45.7 thousand square km, occupied mainly by pastures (39.8%) and farm crops (25%). Aracruz' plantations correspond to nearly 2% of the state's total territory and, evidently, do not compete for land with other crops.
The same conditions can be observed in the other states where Aracruz operates.
For more information regarding issues linked to land use, click here.
19. Don't eucalyptus plantations impoverish the soil?
No, and Aracruz' over 30 years of experience has been proof of this. Independent research has demonstrated the beneficial effects of eucalyptus cultivation on many soil properties such as structure, water storage capacity, drainage and aeration, among others due, to the intense deposition of organic matter on the soil - through leaves, bark and roots - estimated at 7 tons/hectare/year.
The manner in which eucalyptus roots spread out, seeking nutrients and bringing them to the surface, often helps in the recuperation of soil fertility levels. Besides this, soil in an Aracruz region is almost always covered, which helps protect it against erosion. When mature trees are harvested, a new crop begins to grow immediately, either by natural regeneration or by replanting new stands. The warm Brazilian climate favors the fast regeneration of recently harvested areas.
One important measure adopted by Aracruz has been replacement of nutrients through balanced fertilization, in accordance with specific requirements of eucalyptus and soil fertility at the locale. This technique, initiated as of 1994, seeks to optimize the quantities and types of fertilizers the Company uses, thus helping avoid excessive dosages that otherwise might be harmful to the water table or rivers in the region.
20. What about eucalyptus' requirements of water?
Recent studies through the Watershed Project demonstrated that eucalyptus trees possess physiological mechanisms that regulate absorption and loss of water, thus directly influencing forest productivity - that is, the quantity of wood produced per hectare/year/volume of water consumed.
Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that water use efficiency by eucalyptus trees is equal or less than that of native trees.
Moreover, since it is a tree with a smaller crown than native forest species, eucalyptus plantations allow a greater quantity of rainwater to reach the soil.
Aracruz has been systematically evaluating different aspects of how the eucalyptus clones function in terms of resistance to drought, water consumption, and conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. These studies subsequently permit the selection of more drought-resistant and productive clones that make use of available water resources with maximum economic and environmental efficiency.
In order to delve deeper into this question, Aracruz has been conducting studies together with a number of universities and research institutions, seeking to evaluate the relationship between eucalyptus plantations and water resources during an entire seven-year growing cycle.
Learn about the Watershed Project.
21. Besides pulp production, what other uses are there for eucalyptus trees?
The eucalyptus is a very versatile tree that has many industrial applications. Some species are used for making pulp; from others, essential oils are extracted and used to make cleaning products, foodstuffs, perfumes and medicines.
Its wood can be used to produce boards, stripping, wainscoting, roofing, beams and poles, among others. Other products such as plywood, chipboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF) can be produced from eucalyptus wood - a sustainable natural resource.
Learn more about noble wood made from the eucalyptus tree at www.lyptus.com.br
22. Aren't species like eucalyptus more easily attacked by disease and pests than native trees?
All forest species - native or not - face a risk of disease and pests. One of the factors that increases or lowers the risk is the equilibrium of the ecosystem.
In the case of Aracruz, incidences of disease and pests and the need to intervene to control these agents have been reduced to a minimum as a result of the favorable environmental balance achieved through adoption of preventive measures.
The harmonious integration between eucalyptus plantations and native forests benefits both areas and better protects them from disease and pests.
Learn more about Aracruz's use of agrochemicals.
23. How is wood transported until the pulp mills?
In 2003, Aracruz implemented new developments in the wood logistics chain for the Barra do Riacho Unit (ES). Regarding rail transportation, a spur was built connecting the main railroad line to the wood patio inside the mill.
Meanwhile, Aracruz initiated the operations of a groundbreaking coastal wood transportation service, inaugurating marine terminals in February 2003 in Portocel (ES) and Caravelas (BA). The terminals receive barges loaded with eucalyptus logs that are pushed by tugboats.
The project required an investment of US$51 million and involved the construction of a wood-handling terminal in Portocel (the seaport controlled by the Company in Barra do Riacho), another terminal in the municipality of Caravelas (Bahia) and the barges that ply the route between the two points. Each barge has the capacity to transport the equivalent of 100 truckloads of logs. The time of the trip between the two terminals, a direct line distance of 275km, is approximately 12 hours.
In 2006, this system was responsible for the shipping of approximately 1.96 million cubic meters of wood, 43% more than in 2005. This represents the elimination of 75.700 logging truck trips, contributing significantly to the reduction of traffic on the BR 101 highway, linking the extreme south of Bahia and the northern section of Espírito Santo.
Aracruz sponsored studies to evaluate the impact of this change in the reduction of carbon emissions and submitted the studies to the criteria of the Kyoto Treaty Methodological Panel. Because there are no Clean Development Mechanism methodologies that have been approved for transportation projects, Aracruz once again was a pioneer in this issue. The first result for the Company was denial of the project because of questions regarding the methodology that was used. Aracruz is still studying the possibility of improving the work that was presented, in an effort to help other companies who would like to use this same transportation mode in the country.
With the possibility of approval, new investments for the country could be attracted to this field.
Learn more about Aracruz's position regarding climate change questions and the Kyoto Treaty.
24. Does this maritime transportation system affect the environment in the region?
In order to decide upon the routes for the coastal shipping of wood between the Caravelas and Portocel terminals, Aracruz works in partnership with the Instituto Baleia Jubarte (Humpback Whale Institute), a non-governmental organization that seeks to protect and do research on whales. The institute conducts a permanent monitoring program of these animals who are found along the coast of the region, spotted during overflights in a twin-engine airplane. Based upon the results, Aracruz established routes for the barges that would interfere the least with the environment.
The social and environmental care that was taken by Aracruz when it established the Caravelas Terminal was the subject of a case study prepared by the Dom Cabral Foundation on behalf of the Global Compact, an initiative of the United Nations that accompanies the world business community in its implementation of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable practices.
25. How does Aracruz assure the high productivity of its plantations?
Aracruz employs vegetative propagation, or cloning, to guarantee the high productivity of its plantations. This method uses parts of the plant instead of seeds to generate clones that contain all the original genetic information of the mother tree. More information about this issue can be found here.
Besides increasing productivity, the cloning technique brings about improvements in quality and environmental performance. The objective is to select trees with the best forestry and industrial characteristics, such as vigor, physical form and resistance to disease and pests and wood quality, among others. Aracruz uses nearly 100 different hybrid eucalyptus clones adapted to the specific climate and soil conditions where they are planted.
The Company also has adopted a series of forest management practices that seek not only improved productivity but also environmental protection. One aspect involves agriculture defense systems. Learn more about this issue here.
26. What is Aracruz' pulp production process?
The production of pulp basically consists of transforming eucalyptus wood into a fibrous material known as paste, pulp or industrial cellulose.
The process begins in the wood patio where the raw material is delivered by trucks carrying an average load of 36 tons of wood each. Aracruz also uses a ocean-going wood transportation system that is a groundbreaking program in Brazil, using barges pushed by tugboats that carry eucalyptus logs from the extreme south of Bahia to Portocel in the north of Espírito Santo.
The logs, which arrive with the bark still in place, are unloaded and cut in half. Later, they are debarked in rotary drums and sent through chopping machines to be transformed into chips.
The chips are stacked in piles and transported on conveyor belts to the mill's digestors, where the cooking process begins. Cooking consists of exposing the chips to a chemical action in order to remove the lignin that binds the fiber to the wood.
After washing and purifying, the pulp - now free of contaminants - undergoes a bleaching process to improve its industrial qualities such as whiteness, cleanliness and chemical purity, among others.
After bleaching, the pulp is once again purified and sent for drying and bundling. Eight bundles, each containing 250 kg of pulp, constitute one 2-ton bale ready to be transported and shipped.
Learn more about Aracruz's pulp production processes.
27. Why does the Company still use chlorine compounds in the pulp bleaching process?
Elemental chlorine (chlorine gas) and chlorine dioxide (a chlorine compound) are the two purifying agents most widely used in the bleaching of chemical pulps. However, there is a worldwide trend for the progressive substitution of elemental chlorine with chlorine dioxide.
As a result of its recent pulp mill modernization project, Aracruz is now able to bleach all of its pulp through the ECF (Elemental Chlorine-Free) system, a process that does not use elemental chlorine. Current concentrations of AOX (Adsorbable Halogenated Compounds), which serves as the parameter normally used for measuring organochlorines in effluents, are below 0.25 kg per ton of pulp, a rating that is comparable to the world pulp sector's most technologically advanced mills.
The Aracruz pulp mills use very effective production process control systems in order to guarantee that the quality of its effluents are in line with international requirements.
28. Does Aracruz use agricultural defense systems on its eucalyptus plantations?
The use of agricultural defense systems in silviculture, or the planting of trees, is quite reduced compared to agricultural crops. In some agricultural crops, such as citric fruits and sugar cane, the consumption is 50% greater than that practiced on forest plantations.
The use of agricultural defenses there is linked to the degree of agricultural technology practiced in each country. For example, in Holland, one of the most advanced agricultural nations, consumption of the active principle in these products is around 15 kg/ha/year; in Belgium, it is about 10 kg/ha/year. In Brazil, this consumption is on the order of 5 kg/ha/year, according to information from the National Union of Agricultural Defense Product Manufacturers (SINDAG). At Aracruz, the use of these products does not exceed 2 kg/ha/year.
In April 2003, the State of Espírito Santo's Agricultural and Forestry Defense Institute (Idaf-ES) conducted inspections of the eucalyptus plantations owned by the Company in the municipalities of Aracruz, Ibiraçu and São Mateus, to check which products were being used by the Company and the conditions of application, storage and disposal of empty packages. No irregularities were found.
Aracruz uses agricultural defenses in a responsible and careful manner, especially toxicology class IV products (green band, low toxicity) such as Scout, Round-up and Mirex-S. All are NA (Non-Agricultural) products licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture and by IBAMA, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministries Of Health and the Environment. All use obeys a prescription issued by a CREA-licensed agronomist.
Learn more about this question.
29. What care does Aracruz take when it applies its agricultural defenses?
Aracruz uses individual protection equipment (IPE), such as boots, gloves, helmets, masks and aprons, both for its own as well as outsourced workers. The care evidenced by the Company is extended to participants in the Forestry Partners Program, who also are given technical orientation.
The use of agricultural defenses to control pests and diseases is carried out in a curative manner when the use of luminous traps, biological controls and other resources do not prove to be effective. Pest control takes into account the solution to the problem and the future of the agricultural ecosystem. In order to avoid or minimize environmental impacts, Aracruz makes use of modern concepts regarding the use of agro-chemicals and forest management. The use of agrochemicals to control pests and disease is carried out in a curative fashion only when the use of luminous traps, biological control and other resources are not effective. Pest control takes into account the solution to the problem and the sustainability of the agricultural ecosystem.
Periodic analyses conducted in different collection points of water, sediment and soil samples in various areas belonging to the Company have never indicated any vestiges of water resources by the products used. Nor has there been any evidence of the death of animals provoked by insecticides used by the Company. Furthermore, there is no evidence of animal deaths caused by the Company's use of pesticides. Furthermore, no work-related accidents have ever been registered attributed to pesticide intoxication.
Aracruz also conducts regular in-house and outside audits to appraise its compliance with environmental legislation and conformity with regulations about the handling, transportation, application and final disposal of insecticide packaging.
Read more about Aracruz's care when using agrochemicals.
30. What does Aracruz do about the odor produced by the pulp mill? Is this odor harmful to people's health?
The gas emissions from Aracruz' mills are characteristic of the industrial process - used by our Company and by practically the entire pulp sector around the world - and they are not harmful to human health in the quantities in which they are discharged through the mills' chimneys, although they contain sulfur particles that may be discomfiting to some, according to each individual's sensitivity.
Aracruz strives continuously to reduce the amount of sulfur generated by the pulp making process, and has already invested more than US$2 million towards this purpose. In an effort to monitor the odor levels in the vicinity of its mills, the Company has operated the Odor Perception Network (OPN) in Espírito Santo since 1991 and since 1986 in Rio Grande do Sul. In Espírito Santo, the OPN is made up of 55 volunteers from 12 communities located in a radius of 70 km from the Barra do Riacho Unit. In Rio Grande do Sul, the OPN is made up of 51 volunteers residing in a radius of up to 20 km, in nine neighborhoods of Guaíba and eight Porto Alegre districts. These volunteers keep Aracruz informed about detectable levels of odor in their vicinity, thus helping the Company's researchers and technicians develop new solutions for this problem that are satisfactory the community.
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Last update on April 30, 2008
