Water management in industrial and forestry operations
Dimensão SASB
Water ManagementCódigo SASB
RT-CP-140a.1Código SASB
RR-PP-140a.1Setor SASB
Pulp & Paper ProductsSetor SASB
Containers and PackagingDimensão GRI
Material TopicsDimensão GRI
EnvironmentalCódigo GRI
3-3Código GRI
303-1Código GRI
303-3Código GRI
303-5Stakeholder
PlanetTCFD
Related IndicatorsWater management in industrial operations
In pulp and paper factories, water is used as the main vehicle for transporting pulp and paper between the various pieces of equipment that make up each stage of the production process. The factories only capture around 20% of all the water used in the industry, since they have a reuse level of 80%. As an example, if a drop of water were monitored from the moment it was collected, it would be possible to see that it circulates approximately 4.5 times in various processes until it is sent to effluent treatment and returned to the water body following all Brazilian and international quality standards. Thus, we return around 85% of the volume we capture to the river or sea; just over 14% of the rest evaporates during the production process and therefore returns to the environment; and less than 1% is retained in our final product.
The reuse system is based on a series of internal reuses of industrial water, including cooling water, hot water, condensates (steam and liquor), bleaching filtrates, white water from the drying and paper machines and internal recirculations in the water treatment plant itself. The company operates within the reference limits of international best practices, such as Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which stipulate limits ranging from a minimum of 25 m³/tsa to 50 m³/tsa.
In 2020, Suzano announced its Commitments to Renewing Life, which include a target on water use: reducing specific water withdrawal by 15% by 2030. Following the announcement of this commitment, the company defined a governance structure to manage this issue. We have an Industrial Environment Working Group (IEWG), which evaluates the results every month. Each industrial operation monitors the specific capture indicator daily with the industrial leaders. The results are disclosed at the monthly management results meetings to all the leaders of each business unit (Pulp, Paper and Packaging, and Consumer Goods) and to all the employees of the industrial units so that they can get involved in the issue.
The issue of water resource management is a material one for Suzano, and its management includes risk analysis and scenarios to mitigate the impacts caused by the use of water in industrial operations. In 2023, we updated the water stress analysis for the industrial units using the Aqueduct Water Risk Analysis, which showed that most of the company's industrial units are located in cities with low and/or medium-low water stress (less than 20%). The Aracruz (ES) site remained classified as an area considered to have a medium-high level of water stress (between 20% and 40%) and the Mogi das Cruzes (SP) site was also classified in this category. The Suzano (SP) and Rio Verde (SP) sites, which had been classified as having a high level of water stress (between 40% and 80%), were reclassified to medium-high. The only unit classified as having a high level of water stress was Maracanaú (CE), a tissue conversion unit that uses water only in the administrative areas.
Our internal risk mapping shows that the units located in Aracruz (ES), Jacareí (SP) and Mucuri (BA) have historically been the most affected by periods of water scarcity. We are therefore continuing to invest in technologies that reduce abstraction and therefore increase our resilience in water stress scenarios. Because of the scenario in Mucuri, the company took the strategic decision to acquire a Small Hydroelectric Plant (SHP) and to build a new Effluent Treatment Plant at the Mucuri Unit. In addition, we have developed the Nascentes do Mucuri project, which encourages the protection of the springs of the Mucuri River and the surrounding areas, promoting the continuity of this water resource, which is so valuable for maintaining ecosystem services in the municipality and the region. With the implementation of all these preventive and adaptation actions at Suzano's industrial units, there have been no episodes of production being reduced or halted due to the lack of water resources.
Suzano's participation in the river basin committees where its industrial units are located is considered strategic and aims to keep its operations aligned with the management plans for each basin, contributing to the generation of positive results for all stakeholders. In this sense, through local teams and leadership, the company participates in the following committees: Alto Tietê River Basin Committee; Rio Doce River Basin Committee (CBH-Doce for its acronym in Portuguese); Litoral Centro Norte River Basin Committee; Paraíba do Sul River Basin Committee (Ceivap for its acronym in Portuguese); Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí River Basin Committee (CPJ for its initials in Portuguese); and the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA in Portuguese) Crisis Committee for the Tocantins River.
Among the results already achieved, Suzano actively collaborated in defining the minimum effluent flows that can be practiced in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin, to guarantee minimum reserve levels. The company also contributed to defining the operating rules for the hydroelectric plants (HPPs) in the Tocantins River Basin, which aim to maximize the water stock in the Serra da Mesa HPP reservoir, the largest water stock in the world in terms of capacity. The stock of water in this reservoir will increase the resilience of the basin during long periods of drought.
In 2023, Suzano's total water withdrawal was in line with the volume reported in 2022. We had a 1.5% increase in absolute withdrawal, mainly due to the Aracruz unit, which used more water from the reservoir, given that the accumulated rainfall was lower than the historical average. We reached a specific catchment of 26.6 m³/t, accumulating a reduction of 11% since 2018. This represents a 71% achievement of our Commitment to Renewing Life, i.e. a 3.2 m³/t reduction in industrial abstractions. Considering the specific values, specific water consumption in the reporting period was 7.0 m³/t, 27% higher than the specific consumption for 2022 (5.5 m³/t) and meeting the target set for water consumption of up to 7.0 m³/t. We had a challenging year about the dirt present in the wood, so we opened our circuits more and recirculated less water.
Water management in forestry operations
Forests are vital natural infrastructures for freshwater supply, and their management can provide "nature-based solutions" to water-related social challenges. Suzano recognizes the importance of water as a vital resource for the balance of ecosystems and the very continuity of its business and is committed to guaranteeing the availability of and access to quality water for the different users of the watersheds in which it operates, through:
- Protect rivers and springs;
- Monitor water quality and quantity;
- Risk analysis and mitigation of impacts arising from its operations;
- Management and control of water abstraction by forestry operations;
- Ecological restoration of degraded environments;
Environmental awareness and education for employees and neighboring communities. In this sense, about water management, guidelines are established to monitor water resources, making it possible to assess the quality and availability of water in the bodies of water influenced by Suzano's Forest Stewardship, as well as guiding decision-making, such as improving and adapting forest management and complying with the guidelines established by the company. In this way, proper forest stewardship promotes various ecosystem services, including water regulation and water quality regulation, which benefit not only forestry production but also the supply of quality water to the different users of the basins in which we operate.
Currently, water management in the forest takes into account demands associated with current legislation and/or environmental license conditions; forest certification requirements; international agreements [such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the UN Decade of Restoration; and the 20x20 Initiative]; sectoral and multilateral agreements [such as forestry forums and the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá for its acronym in Portuguese)]; and partnerships with universities [the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo (Esalq/USP)], companies (P&G and Sonoco), government [State Forestry Institute (SFI)] and NGOs [The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Instituto Terra]; demands from interested parties (such as overcharging for water use) and global platforms for publicizing impact management [CDP, Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and WaterFootprint, among others].
Suzano's management and commitments
Eucalyptus is the main raw material in Suzano's production process, which consumes water and carbon dioxide, carries out photosynthesis and returns water and oxygen to the atmosphere, with a production cycle of six to seven years.
With regard to water use, forestry operations have an itinerant and seasonal profile, directly influenced by the dynamics of planting and transportation. Watering the seedlings is only necessary in the first few days of eucalyptus planting. After this period, the water only needs to be used to moisten the roads near the communities and neighboring residents to control dust when transporting the wood, i.e. six to seven years after planting.
The collection and use of water for forestry, harvesting, and logistics are indicated by forestry planning, which takes into account the regulations established by the state public agency and the shared use of water by neighboring communities. Therefore, depending on the water availability of each resource and the volume needed by other users, the amount of water to be used in the operation is established. Surface water collection is carried out at points authorized or registered with the responsible state agencies, respecting the location, established conditions and limits (volume and/or frequency of collection), and other legal requirements regarding water collection and use. All authorized collection points are identified in an internal georeferenced database and made available to operational areas through maps.
The water use by the forestry operation is monitored by the Forestry Environment area, which checks the license issued by the environmental agency, the amount of water allowed to be withdrawn and the volume withdrawn by the operation at each site, with its geographical location, which speeds up the identification, control and correction of any deviations. Suzano's forestry base is distributed over several important river basins in Brazil, which have different environmental resources, uses, occupations and demands for water use. To ensure legal environmental compliance, guarantee knowledge and adherence to applicable legislation in forestry operations, prevent legal penalties, mitigate environmental impacts, and avoid damage to the company's image, it is necessary to identify, analyze, map, and evaluate all applicable legislation and other requirements relevant to the forestry business. Through the Legal Compliance system (called Âmbito), legislation is mapped into obligations and directed to the responsible operational areas to analyze and demonstrate compliance with legal requirements. Monthly monitoring and verification, along with annual internal audits, track the progress of compliance actions. This ensures responsible and transparent management of our forestry activities.
Faced with this diversity, Suzano seeks to increase the efficient use of water in the forest and to be hydrosolidary about this resource. In this context, at the beginning of 2020, the company made one of its Commitments to Renewing Life "to increase water availability in 100% of critical river basins by 2030". Critical watersheds are those subject to a lack of water availability due to natural characteristics such as climate, soil type and land use. Critical watersheds were mapped in all of Suzano's forestry units, taking into account local water, climate, strategic and social aspects. The company is concentrating its efforts on watersheds with significant occupation by its operations (equal to or greater than 30%) so that the practices adopted by forest stewardship can have an effect and generate the best results in terms of the watersheds' water availability.
To apply technical management actions in the forest, as well as to understand the supply/demand of water in the watersheds, Suzano has a robust environmental monitoring network. In 1990, it started the Micro Basins Project and currently has 14 experimental micro basins equipped with sensors to compute the water balance and broaden the understanding of the relationships and effects of forest stewardship in locations that are representative of Suzano's production model, in all of the company's forestry units.
The company has a network of 73 meteorological stations of its own, in addition to 95 public stations distributed across its forestry base to assess the effects of climate on forest productivity and water supply in river basins. It also has a network of six flow towers, equipped with instruments that carry out water and carbon balances at very high monitoring frequencies.
Suzano has also had a partnership for more than ten years with the Cooperative Program on Environmental Monitoring in Watersheds (Promab for its acronym in Portuguese), coordinated by the Forest Hydrology Laboratory of the Forest Sciences Department at Esalq/USP. This cooperative program between companies in the sector and universities plays an important role in generating knowledge about the best management practices, bringing transparency to the business through numerous scientific publications and encouraging future research into the development and sustainability of this topic.
As an internal policy, Suzano has an Environmental Aspects and Impacts Management Matrix, which identifies forest stewardship activities that may impact water quality and availability and establishes control measures. Thus, periodic monitoring is carried out to assess water quality and availability at the company's units, where sampling points have been strategically plotted (representative of the production and coverage model) to establish a possible relationship between the company's eucalyptus planting/harvesting areas and the conditions of the water resources (water flow and quality, rainfall and laboratory results) located in the watershed in which Suzano operates.
Managing and identifying risks and opportunities
The water used by operational activities is regulated by the state public agency, which establishes the maximum amount of water to be used by the company. Irregular abstractions, i.e. in places without authorization from the agency or with a daily volume above what is permitted, entail environmental risks and can affect the availability of water, contaminate the soil or water and cause legal risks, with administrative or criminal liability. The risks associated with water consumption are reduced downstream flow, erosion and siltation, contamination due to the discharge of effluents, and the imposition of fines at both state and federal levels due to infringements of legislation related to water resources.
The following data is available in the tables below:
- Water abstraction by source in industrial operations;
- Water abstraction by source in forestry operations;
- Water consumption in industrial operations;
- Water consumption in forestry operations;
- Total number of river basins in which the quality and availability of water resources in forestry operations is monitored;
- Total number of river basins in which the quality and availability of water resources in industrial operations is monitored.
Water abstraction by source in industrial operations¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed areas³ | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | |
| m³ | m³ | % | m³ | m³ | % | m³ | m³ | % | m³ | m³ | % | |
|
Surface waters, including wetlands, rivers, and lakes |
312.706.547,20 |
29.406.242,20 |
9,40% |
322.378.551,40 |
28.965.102,50 |
9,00% |
315.491.634,10 |
28.790.518,90 |
9,10% |
316.641.967,48 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
|
Groundwater/water tables |
1.404.884,20 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
1.389.042,80 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
1.307.292,80 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
1.315.302,06 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
|
Rainwater |
767.032,40 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
270.809,20 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
221.394,00 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
286.055,14 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
|
Third-party water² |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
4.596,00 |
1.597,00 |
34,70% |
|
Total |
314.878.463,80 |
29.406.242,20 |
9,30% |
324.038.403,40 |
28.965.102,50 |
8,90% |
317.020.320,90 |
28.790.518,90 |
9,10% |
318.247.920,69 |
1.597,00 |
0,00% |
- All water is taken from fresh sources (≤ 1,000 mg/L total dissolved solids). There is no withdrawal from seawater or produced water sources. The "Total water withdrawn" category includes total withdrawals in water-stressed areas.
- The Maracanaú (CE) and Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (ES) units only use water for administrative activities, which comes from the municipality's water utility. Therefore, in 2023 we started reporting the water used by these units in this category. In previous years, this data was reported on surface water.
- Until 2022, the city of Suzano (SP) was classified as a water stress area by the Aqueduct Water Risk Analysis. Therefore, the values of the Suzano and Rio Verde units fell into this category from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, a review was carried out and only Maracanaú was classified as a water stress area by the same tool.
Water abstraction by source in forestry operations¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022² | 2023 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed area | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed area | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed area | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | Total water withdrawn | Total water withdrawn in water-stressed area | Percentage of water withdrawn in water-stressed areas | |
| m³ | m³ | % | m³ | m³ | % | m³ | m³ | % | m³ | m³ | % | |
|
Surface waters, including wetlands, rivers, and lakes |
1.506.967,68 |
n/d |
n/d |
1.499.520,94 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
1.171.062,73 |
2.134,69 |
0,14% |
1.409.352,07 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
|
Groundwater/water tables |
299.893,36 |
n/d |
n/d |
141.445,05 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
145.135,00 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
187.183,60 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
|
Rainwater |
0,00 |
n/d |
n/d |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
|
Total |
1.806.861,04 |
n/d |
n/d |
1.640.965,99 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
1.316.197,73 |
2.134,69 |
0,13% |
1.596.535,67 |
0,00 |
0,00% |
- The Aqueduct Water Risk Analysis tool was used to identify areas of water stress. All water is taken from fresh sources (≤ 1,000 mg/L total dissolved solids). There is no withdrawal from seawater sources, produced water or third-party water. The "Total water withdrawn" category includes total withdrawals in water-stressed areas.
- Data for 2022 has been revised (GRI 2-4).
Water consumption¹ in industrial operations
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m³ | m³ | m³ | m³ | |
|
Total (m³) |
65.801.937,10 |
71.034.801,50 |
62.182.731,60 |
64.787.262,89 |
|
Specific (m³/tonnes) |
6,30 |
6,30 |
5,50 |
6,02 |
|
In water-stressed areas (m³)² |
6.102.257,40 |
5.717.193,90 |
6.025.018,60 |
599,80 |
- Water consumption is understood to be the difference between the amount of water collected in the units and the amount of water returned to the environment within the environmental parameters of current legislation (treated effluent) and losses (evaporation and incorporation into the product).
- Until 2022, the city of Suzano (SP) was classified as a water stress area by the Aqueduct Water Risk Analysis. Therefore, the values of the Suzano and Rio Verde units fell into this category from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, a review was carried out and only Maracanaú (CE) was classified as a water stress area by the same tool.
Water consumption in forestry operations¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m³ | m³ | m³ | m³ | |
|
Total |
1.806.861,04 |
1.640.965,99 |
1.651.233,91 |
1.596.535,67 |
|
In water-stressed areas² |
N/D |
0,00 |
2.134,69 |
0,00 |
- In Suzano's forestry operations, water consumption is considered equal to water withdrawal.
- The analysis of water withdrawal and consumption in water-stressed areas began in 2021, based on the Aqueduct Water Risk Analysis tool.
Total number of river basins in which the quality and availability of water resources in forestry operations is monitored
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| número total | número total | número total | número total | |
|
Total |
53 |
65 |
76 |
85 |
Total number of river basins in which the quality and availability of water resources in industrial operations is monitored¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| número total | número total | número total | número total | |
|
Total |
n/d |
n/d |
n/d |
10 |
- Watersheds that are part of our industrial operations are considered to be watersheds. The Mogi das Cruzes (SP), Rio Verde (SP) and Suzano (SP) plants are located in the same basin.