Over the years, AMAGGI has been progressively incorporating sustainability into all of its business areas, and not just as something we remember when we need to talk about social and environmental responsibility. Aware of the impacts generated by agricultural and logistics activities, AMAGGI adopts internationally recognized standards and methods to act in an environmentally responsible manner and ensure the sustainability of its business.
This is the thinking behind our engagement and our support to the Brazilian and Mato Grosso state governments to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the restoration of 2.9 million hectares of native vegetation in Mato Grosso territory by 2030, commitments made at COP 21, in Paris, in 2015.
As an agribusiness company, AMAGGI has its roots in grain production, but logistics activities have increasingly taken on a greater role within the company. That is why we would like to show examples of how we have been successful in sustainably managing these operations.
From the farm to the port
So that the grains produced in our units in Mato Grosso reach the port of Itacoatiara (AM) and are then exported, we invest in the diversification of logistics modes, stopping the emission of tons of carbon into the atmosphere in the so-called Northern Corridor (Madeira-Tapajós waterway).
In a country with a logistics matrix that is essentially road-based, AMAGGI replaces the use of trucks from Porto Velho (RO), from where it now transports cargo by barge along the Madeira River to the port of Itacoatiara. On the waterway, each convoy is made up of 20 barges and has the capacity to transport the equivalent of a thousand truckloads of grain.
In addition to relieving traffic on our roads and being more efficient for business, water transport is more sustainable: according to a study carried out to calculate the Carbon Footprint of Corn in 2015, in accordance with the GHG Protocol, greenhouse gas emissions from river transport (0.014 tons CO2e/ton corn) is 90% lower than road transport emissions (0.15 tons CO2e/ton corn). This does not include the stretches where rail transport is used, where emissions are 99% lower, according to the same study.
Throughout waterway transport, AMAGGI also has a series of initiatives that allow for more efficient use of fuels, which also contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2013, technological solutions on vessels and management innovations, such as remote monitoring of navigation operations, have achieved an average efficiency gain of 13% in fuel consumption per ton transported.
From the port outwards
Between the port and external markets, such as Europe, AMAGGI's export activities also deserve to be highlighted for emitting less carbon volume than the national average and the United States, among others.
The conclusion is from another study, carried out in accordance with the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) standard, which analyzed in 2014 the Carbon Footprint of Soy from production to the port of Fredrikstad, in Norway, where the company has a non-GMO soy crushing factory, Denofa.
According to the survey, AMAGGI's export operations emitted 533 kilograms of CO2e per ton of soybeans to the Norwegian port, 14% less than the average for companies in Brazil (620 kgCO2e/ton soybeans) and almost 20% less than the US average (661 kg CO2e/ton soybeans) on the same route.
It is based on experiences like these that we intend to further develop our methods of reducing carbon emissions in the coming years, throughout the production and logistics chain, contributing to the overall picture of meeting the COP 21 goals and, consequently, to the sustainability of the business itself.
