Environmental Responsibility

Usina Santa Fé S.A. is committed to promoting environmental care throughout its production process, ensuring its activities, products and services are aligned with the principles of sustainability. The company employs technologies as well as industrial and agricultural initiatives that drive reductions in environmental impacts, optimizing its operational efficiency.

Air

Atmospheric emissions from the boilers are monitored on an annual basis to ensure compliance with the legislation in force and to prevent air pollution. Elimination of sugarcane straw burning with 100% mechanized harvesting: Usina Santa Fé S.A. is a signatory to the São Paulo state government's Agro-Environmental Protocol and receives the Green Ethanol certificate annually. This certificate is in recognition of the best practices developed by the company in organizing agricultural and industrial activities in an environmentally correct manner, reducing impacts on the environment and society. The mill maintains an internal program to ensure proper fleet maintenance and minimize black smoke emissions.

Electricity

Usina Santa Fé S.A. generates all the electricity it consumes by burning sugarcane bagasse in its boilers (clean, renewable energy).

Water

Use and reuse: the industrial process contains closed circuit systems in which water is treated and recirculated, driving a significant reduction in the amount of water consumed per metric ton of sugarcane produced.
Protection of vegetation: all the forestry, riparian and waterside vegetation areas are protected and conserved to ensure the quality of water on the mill's properties.

Waste management

Integrated assessment of the entire waste generation process, ranging from agricultural and industrial to administrative activities, seeking new solutions to reduce costs and environmental risk. The generation, temporary storage and final disposal processes are all conducted in an environmentally correct manner.

Industrial byproducts

Vinasse, filter cake, process residual water and soot are byproducts generated in the industrial process and are applied to the soil in the agricultural areas.
Vinasse: Rich in potassium, the application of vinasse (fertigation) is approved by the environmental agency CETESB and is compliant with the P-4.231 Standard, which establishes the criteria and procedures for applying vinasse to agricultural land. These procedures ensure safety in pumping, transporting, storing and applying the effluents and are formalized in the Vinasse Application Plan required by the authority. The plan defines the area where the vinasse will be applied, the amounts to be used (application rate) and the chemical composition of the soil.
Filter Cake: Rich in phosphorus, the filter cake substitutes or complements the use of mineral fertilizers in planting.

Reforestation

Permanent Preservation and Legal Reserve Areas
The purpose of this program is to protect the vegetation coverage in the permanent protection and legal reserve areas on the land owned by the Usina Santa Fé S.A., driving an increase in the diversity of the typical original species in the region, as well as enabling the riparian vegetation to serve as ecological corridors and preventing erosion and sedimentation in water courses.
Stewardship of Fauna: The complete elimination of the burning of sugarcane straw at the Usina Santa Fé S.A. may be considered advantageous for preserving fauna since the animals no longer run the risk of being accidentally burned. A survey of the fauna in the Usina Santa Fé S.A. direct area of influence was undertaken, encompassing species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, with the purpose of identifying and monitoring the communities in the areas surrounding the mill.

Soil Conservation

Protecting the land means ensuring the future. It was with this purpose that Santa Fé developed its stewardship, allying its experience and traditional know-how in soil conservation with leading edge technological developments to produce very accurate, efficient and safe results. We use a sophisticated GNSS network to map and systematize the areas, along with reduced tillage techniques and rotation with other crops such as soy, protecting our soil while guaranteeing its productivity.

Biological Pest Control

Biological pest control is safe, effective and ecologically sustainable. Usina Santa Fé S.A. has a biofactory that breeds parasitoids (Cotesia flavipes) to control the sugarcane borer and entomopathogenic fungus (Metharizium anisopilae) for the sugarcane spittlebug. These are sustainable environmental practices.