São Paulo – The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has approved the financing of 33.9 million Brazilian reals (US$ 20 million) for investment in the area of sanitation, to be developed by Estre Ambiental, a Brazilian company that operates in the sector of management of solid residues and treatment of degraded areas.
The project forecasts the implementation of a plant for the processing of residues with production capacity of 450 tonnes a year of residue derived fuel (RDF). RDF is a fuel in flakes for use as a feedstock in blast furnaces and industrial ovens.
This is the first project in the area of solid residues to make urban litter into energy and receive financing from the BNDES. It involves the expansion of landfills in Itapevi and Paulínia, both in São Paulo, the collection of biogas with the generation of carbon credits and production of fuel derived from solid residues.
The idea is to expand the capacity for turning solid urban residues from the metropolitan regions of São Paulo and Campinas. Apart from that, there should be greater collection of methane gas in landfills. Methane is one of the most polluting gases in the atmosphere, generated, in this case, by the decomposing of residues deposited in the Paulínia landfill.
The investment forecasted is for the receipt of 1,000 tonnes a day of residues. Household residues are recycled, reused and transformed into energy inputs in other productive processes, contributing for the sustainable development of the region.
The main market for the fuel derived from residues will be mills for the processing of sugarcane that operate in the vicinity of the project, as well as the co-processing in cement ovens.
RDF is produced throughout the year, and may be stored, which allows for greater permanent efficiency of the ovens. Apart from that, the specific heat capacity of RDF is higher than that of sugarcane bagasse. Coke, in turn, is more expensive than RDF.
The BNDES started operating in the sector with solid revenues in 2002. Today, the bank’s portfolio in the area exceeds 780 million reals (US$ 457 million) of financing approved for the sector of management of solid residues, including direct and indirect operations.
*Translated by Mark Ament
