Consolidating its commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, the company recently expanded its process of making economic use of industrial by-products on a large scale, converting natural waste from the palm oil extraction process into organic compost for use in its agricultural areas. This initiative, unprecedented in Brazil's palm sector, reinforces the company's commitment to sustainability. Grupo BBF commitment to sustainability.
The composting process began in a pilot phase at the Moju Pole and this month is being implemented on a larger scale at the Acará Pole. This expansion aims not only to reduce the volume of effluent used for fertigation, but also to improve the destination of organic waste in the company's palm-growing areas. Composting is a technique widely used in agro-industrial systems, contributing to reducing the carbon footprint by reducing the use of petrochemical fertilizers and other nutrients that require high fossil energy consumption. Grupo BBF aims to strengthen the concept of carbon neutrality in its operations over the next few years.
At the Acará Hub, the area installed for the composting process covers 25,930 m², with the capacity to process up to 90,000 tons of organic compost annually. This is enough to fertilize up to 3,000 hectares of palm, replacing more than 1,800 tons of fossil-based fertilizers with organic ones.
Fabio Pacheco, director of Grupo BBF, points out that the new composting operation uses the "empty fruit bunches" and the water from the industrial process, providing environmental and operational gains and reducing the company's agricultural costs. He points out that the expansion to the Acará Pole is due to the success of the initial operation at the Moju Pole. The use of organic compost helps to replace fossil-based fertilizers, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.
Grupo BBF, as the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, covers 75,000 hectares of plantations and has the capacity to produce more than 200,000 tons of oil annually. In Pará, the company encourages more than 450 family farmers through the Family Farming Program, offering training, technical assistance, supply of seedlings and incentives for bank financing. With four production centers in the state, Grupo BBF generates more than 5,000 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs, making it one of the largest employers in the region. The constant investment in improving the communities around its operations reaffirms Grupo BBF 's commitment to reconciling environmental preservation, socio-economic development and income generation for isolated communities in the Amazon.
Source: Portal do Agronegócio
