Atmospheric Emissions Management

To ensure the reduction of the environmental impacts resulting from its operations, Suzano manages atmospheric emissions in the industrial activities by the legislation in effect on the subject, that is, following the regulations of the National Environmental Council (CONAMA), at the national/federal level, and with the environmental licenses of the operations. Additionally, the standards established by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are internalized as reference standards. 

The company has an environmental management system in which specific controls and monitoring are defined for the sources of atmospheric emissions. It has continuous analyzers for atmospheric emissions and monitoring campaigns at stationary sources. The Industrial Units also have Quality Monitoring Stations, which continuously assess compliance with the standards defined in the legislation.

The data and information from the historical series of the monitoring of each Industrial Unit are recorded and reported periodically to the state environmental agencies in compliance with the legal conditions of the Operating Licenses. In parallel to the legal requirements, this database and information are part of the ISO 14001:2015 Quality Management System, verified in internal and external audits by third-party certifiers. 

ERT Performance

In 2022, regarding Total Reduced Sulfur Compound (TRS) load released in air emissions, there was a 21% reduction compared to the 2021 result.

In specific terms (kg of RPC per ton of product), Suzano also has reduced its emissions from 0.02 kg/t in 2021 to 0.01 kg/t in 2022. These values are in the reference range of the international standards established by the Integrated Pollution, Prevention and Control 2015 - European Commission, which recommends results between 0.1 and 0.2 kg/t as the best performance.

By adopting modern technology, procedures that focus on pollution prevention and control, specialized environmental teams, training, qualification, and maintenance programs, Suzano has achieved significant environmental gains in reducing odor occurrences in the communities surrounding its industrial operations. Added to this are the investments in modernization and improvement, such as those made at the Jacareí Unit (SP) in the amount of BRL 19,717,000.00 in 2019 and 2020. It culminated in a 67% decrease in the number of external odor complaints by the community. Also noteworthy is the structured mapping of fugitive emissions from the three factories at the Aracruz Unit (ES) in 2021. In the same year, the Zero Odor Program was launched at the Mucuri Unit (BA), consisting of an internal communication campaign to raise employees' awareness and support in identifying fugitive sources of odor at the unit so that they can be dealt with briefly and do not reach the communities neighboring the factory.

Particulate Matter (PM) Performance

Particulate matter (PM) released in atmospheric emissions increased by 25% in 2022 compared to the 2021 result. This increase occurred mainly due to efficiency losses in electrostatic precipitators at the Jacareí (SP) and Três Lagoas (MS) units. The operational problems are already being addressed, and we emphasize that, despite the increase, we did not exceed the legal limits allowed.

Specifically (kg of PM per ton of product), Suzano also had an increase of 25%, from 0.4 kg/t in 2021 to 0.5 kg/t in 2022, meeting the internal target of equal or less than 0.5 kg/t in the year. These values are in the reference range of international standards established by the Integrated Pollution, Prevention and Control 2015 - European Commission, which indicates that the best performances are results between 0.2 and 0.5 kg/t.

NOx Performance

Regarding a load of nitrogen oxides (NOx) released in air emissions, there was a 3% reduction in 2022 compared to 2021.

Suzano had a reduction of 4% in specific terms (kg of NOx per ton of product), from 1.27 kg/t, in 2021, to 1.22 kg/t, in 2022. The result met the goal of holding the value at or below 1.30 kg/t and is within the reference range of the international standards established by the Integrated Pollution, Prevention and Control 2015 - European Commission, which indicates results between 1.0 and 1.5 kg/t as the best performance.

SOx Performance

There was a 15% increase in sulfur oxides (SOx) in atmospheric emissions in 2022 compared to 2021. This increase occurred mainly due to the increased sulfidity at the Aracruz (ES) unit, which operated at a faster production rate in some months of the year since one of the boilers underwent a retrofit.   

Suzano's specific SOx emissions (kg of SOx per ton of product) increased by 15%, from 0.19 kg/t in 2021 to 0.22 kg/t in 2022, meeting the internal goal of obtaining results equal to or below 0.25 kg/t during the year. The values are in the reference range of the international standards established by the Integrated Pollution, Prevention and Control 2015 - European Commission, which indicates results between 0.2 and 0.4 kg/t as the best performance.

In the following table, the data on air emissions measurement since 2019 is available.