Waste management focuses on reducing waste and waste volume, segregating it by class and type, reusing materials, elements, and components that do not require transformation, and recycling waste, making it a raw material for the production of new products. To this end, Companhia Mineira de Açúcar e Álcool (CMAA) has a Solid Waste Management Plan (PGRS), which brings together the proper handling of issues related to the topic, quantifying, qualifying, and categorizing, in a detailed manner, everything that is generated in the industrial units, and the premises for the treatment of each type of material. This management process also includes the analysis of how the waste and by-product management structure is developed.
It is known, therefore, that class 1 and 2 waste is generated in continuous operations. The first are residues contaminated with oil which, due to their physical-chemical and infectious properties, can pose a risk to public health and the environment. Therefore, they are sent to their own sanitary landfill, which has the appropriate environmental licenses. As for class 2 residues such as filter cake and vinasse, they are reused in sugarcane cultivation as fertilizers, in an industrial process fully aligned with the concept of a circular economy, with no waste. Through rational use, this practice significantly reduces environmental contamination, by reducing the need for chemical fertilizers and waste disposal.
