Rational and sustainable use

Water is used directly in the company's production processes and in services and utilities in its manufacturing units. For this reason, careful management of this resource is of strategic importance. Most of the water used by the company is withdrawn from surface sources; the remainder comes from wells and utility companies.

No water source is considered to be significantly affected by the manufacturing activities of the Foods & Ingredients and Agribusiness units. Whereas in the Sugar & Bioenergy business, the Moema mill is located in an area where water is scarcer, the Turvo river water basin. Consequently, the company has assumed a commitment with the competent environmental authority to reduce water consumption per metric ton of sugarcane processed. This basin is located in a region with significant levels of human activity, in the transition between the Cerrado to the Atlantic Rainforest biomes, with some key biodiversity areas. 

G4-EN9

Bunge Brasil took another key step towards achieving its overall water consumption reduction target. The commitment assumed in 2013 is aimed at a specific 3% water consumption reduction by 2016 (based on 2013 consumption). In 2015, water consumption had been reduced by 9.92%, a rate made possible by process improvements and operational excellence.

The company also promotes water reutilization as a means of reducing consumption. The Agribusiness unit in Nova Mutum (MT) employs a wastewater treatment plant that permits the water to be used to irrigate biomass plantation areas (timber for the manufacturing unit). In the Foods & Ingredients unit in Jaguaré (São Paulo) all the effluent generated in the industrial area is collected and treated for reuse in the boilers and cooling towers.  In the Sugar & Bioenergy mills, the ethanol manufacturing process generates vinasse as an effluent. This contains potassium, an important soil nutrient for cane plantations. Mixed with residual water, the vinasse is used in fertigation on the plantations. Furthermore, the Moema mill has a boiler ash water treatment system which eliminates the need to wash raw sugarcane.

The target of reducing water consumption per metric ton produced between 2013 and 2016 does not include the tomato product operations, which Bunge assumed in August 2012. However, to ensure greater transparency in the data which have a direct impact on current operations, this report takes into account the inputs and resources used by the tomato products area in all calculations and information related to the reporting cycle.

Araçatuba unit reduces water withdrawal from river by 81%

Located in the interior of São Paulo state, the Foods & Ingredients unit Araçatuba produces Tomato Products, Seasonings and Sauces. In 2015, Araçatuba faced the challenge of reducing the withdrawal of surface water from the Baguaçu river, the city's main water source.

This entailed the development of a project known as Water Circuit, aimed at reducing the consumption of water used in the production process by introducing a closed loop system. The water which was previously withdrawn, used and then returned to the river is now reused in production. As a result it is no longer necessary to continually withdraw water from the river.

The system comprises a 720 m³ tank, where the water is stored and then pumped to the manufacturing process. Since it is hot after use in production, it is passed through cooling towers before returning to the same tank. It is only necessary to withdraw more water to replace the losses by evaporation in the cooling tower.

This tank is used only during the crop period. During the 2014 crop (70 days), approximately 1,615,000 m³ liters of water were consumed. With the implantation of the Water Circuit, in 2015 the volume of water withdrawn was only 300,000 m³, an 81.4% reduction compared with the previous crop.

Total water withdrawn, recycled and reused (m³)
G4-EN10

Percentage of water recirculated / reused