Duratex considers environmental management as part of its quality program and, therefore, invests heavily on the improvement of manufacturing conditions along with a high level of environmental sustainability. In addition to preserving its own environmental areas, the Company fosters, on a regular basis, awareness programs aimed at its employees and the public in general, on the importance of caring for the environment.

The investments on the environmental area can be synthesized by certifications and recertifications of forestlands, acquisitions of filters and equipment for controlling atmospheric emissions, the construction of Effluent Treatment Plants and Material Recovery Areas, and waste management.

Duratex owns approximately 110 thousand hectares of land and timberland. This forest complex is managed according to sustainable, environmentally correct principles. Two certifications support this affirmation: the ISO 14.001 and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Green Seal. The first one attests that the Company has an Environmental Management System, established in the farms of the Botucatu Plant and in the Lençóis Paulista Seedling-Production Nursery, which complies with the requirements of the NBR ISO 14001 norm. The FSC certification, which covers 87% of the Company’s timberlands, attests that these areas meet the Principles and Criteria for good forest management, being economically viable, environmentally adequate and socially fair.

In 1995, Duratex was the first Company in Latin America to obtain the FSC certification, which confirms its commitment to environmental issues and the conservation of natural resources.




The use of cloning technology and the involvement in the Eucalyptus Genome project reflect the Company’s concern with achieving forest management efficiency, in order to reduce the environmental impact of its activities.

Duratex’s forest management is based on a number of practices which aim at increasing the productivity of its timberlands while preserving the environment:

• Minimum Tillage
  
  Minimum tillage is a forest management practice by which new plantations are developed over previously harvested areas, with a minimum soil revolving, thus keeping the surface protected by the organic remains of the preceding forest.

• Soil Fertilizing Program
  
  Duratex employs a direct fertilizing technique which ensures fertilizer administration directly to the seedling or tree, thus reducing the random dispersion of chemical in the soil. In addition, the program involves the careful selection of formulas and administration methods, in order to preserve the fertility of the soil.
  
  
• Pest Control
  
  

  Duratex utilizes pest control methods which are crucial for guaranteeing plantation yield, as well as environmental conservation. The biological control involves the development and introduction of natural enemies against any agents able affect the cultivated species. Genetic improvement also contributes to improving the biological control, by identifying and selecting more resistant specimens.

• Fire Control
  
  The Company possesses forest fire prevention and combat systems, aimed at protecting cultivated areas, machinery and facilities, as well as fauna and flora conservation areas. The experience gathered in fire control is applied to fighting fires in the neighboring communities and answering distress calls from the local authorities.
  
  

• Biodiversity
  Natural Reserve Olavo Egydio Setúbal  
  Among the various environment actions driven by Duratex management, is the conservation of an area of 615.50 hectares, called Natural Reserve Olavo Egydio Setúbal.
  
  The protection of this area, localized in the Lençois Paulista timberland area, was determined by the entrepreneurs Olavo Egydio Setúbal and Eudoro Villela, at the purchase of the Rio Claro farm in 1970.
  
  The reserve consists of Seasonal Forest, where part of  its trees naturally bring down their leaves during the driest season of the year, Places that resemble a small swamp can also be found in parts overflowed by the of river “Claro”. 
  
  Since 1974, many researches were institutions. To learn more about this area, biodiversity conducted in partnership with universities and premises.
  
  In April 2008, the Natural Reserve Olavo Egydio Setúbal was homologated by the State Government as Private Reserve of the Natural Patrimony – state RPPN (Resolution SMS 29/2008).
• The area is classified as one of the richest forest reserves of the State of São Paulo countryside for sheltering species of high value in the biodiversity conservation.   

The industrial areas adopt a Environmental Management System, internally developed, which allows for monitoring each unit in terms of effluent treatment and solid residue disposal, as well as atmospheric emissions reduction.

Effluent treatment methods have evolved within the Company. Starting in 2004, investments were made to upgrade the Effluent Treatment Stations (ETEs), developing Material Recovery Areas (ARMs). The effluents which were previously treated and returned to the public sewage system could then be reutilized in the productive processes and plant maintenance.

Solid residues receive special attention, since some can be recycled and reutilized in the same processes, generating operating profit due to the reduced consumption of raw material. Other materials can be sold to and used by other companies, generating non-operating profit.

Scrap metal and rejected wooden panels are 100% reutilized. The metal scraps are recast and returned to the industrial process. The wood remains are used as fuel in the plants. Among the solid residues sold to other companies, the nickel hydroxide is used by the chemical industry, and the galvanic mud, by the fertilizer industry.

Disposable materials are carefully sorted and sent to appropriate facilities, in order to avoid further environmental impact.

The use of filters and gas washers reduced atmospheric emissions. In addition, the oil-burning kilns were substituted by state-of-the-art natural gas-burning equivalents, further reducing emissions.

Parallel to the internal measures for reducing environmental impacts, the Company has developed a series of products aimed at the rational use of water. These products include faucets, flush valves, urinals and toilets that require less water, and are supported by a specialized sales team, which introduces them to major clients such as hospitals, shopping malls, office complexes and hotels. The team’s main goal is to stress out the financial and environmental benefits deriving from installing such products.

Updated on June, 2008