Ambipar wants to lead the transition to low carbon

In an interview with the Integrida ESG portal, Rafael Tello, sustainability director at Ambipar, revealed the group’s ambition to be among the business leaders in the transition of the economy towards 2030 – the year in which the goals of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals should be achieved ( SDGs) defined during the 2015 UN General Assembly.

“We want to act strongly, together with sustainable objectives, towards a low-carbon circular economy. Our goal, by 2040, is to have our entire fleet running on low-carbon fuels, fuel our fleet with ethanol, work with ethanol 2.0 and develop pilot energy transition projects in the truck sector,” he said.

In 2020, the 100% Brazilian group, which has been in existence for 27 years, made history by becoming the first in the environmental services sector to carry out an IPO (initial public offering), encouraging other companies in the sector to do the same . In the following year, the company would record a 291% increase in its gross revenue, which rose to R$ 3.13 billion.

“Brazil is back in the game. We are protagonists in the environmental issue, but we need to be economic protagonists”

“This pioneering spirit at B3 was excellent for obtaining support from investors. Being part of B3’s Corporate Sustainability Index is in line with the company we want to be, with top-notch governance that generates balanced economic results. And the instrument we chose for this was the IPO. We launched a trend, and other companies followed suit, reinforcing our purpose, which we understand is much bigger than us, to make the world better”, summarized Tello, director of the company that operates in 39 countries on six continents, through 400 bases .

Since the IPO, which took place in July 2020, more than 40 companies have been acquired. Among the most recent acquisitions is ViraSer Negócios de Impacto Ltda, through its direct subsidiary, Environmental ESG Participações S.A. months.

“ViraSer works with collectors’ cooperatives. We already have a history of supporting such cooperatives. The purchase of ViraSer represents an opportunity to increase the social impact of our activities”, explained Tello.

The sustainability director also took stock of the group’s participation in COP27, which took place in November, and commented on the country’s lack of political unity.

“Brazil is back in the game. Indeed, we are protagonists in the environmental issue, we organized Rio92 and Rio+20, but we are still not economic protagonists. And we believe that there is a lot of Brazilian intelligence, knowledge and technology in a sustainable context, which can solve problems around the world. Brazilian participation in COP27 had a very particular feature. We had three stands: representing the federal government, the consortium of Amazon governments and civil society. This shows that we still haven’t been able to consolidate a common agenda and work together with a single strategic plan”, observes Tello.

The Ambipar Group operates on several fronts, with its business essentially organized along two lines: environmental emergencies and services. All modes are served, from sea to air, including rail and road. The operation finds its greatest volume in the road network, through which companies transport the largest amount of material, which is explained by the characteristics of the Brazilian economy. In 2021, emissions equivalent to more than 176 thousand tons of carbon dioxide were offset.

“At B3, we launched a trend and other companies in the sector followed us, reinforcing our purpose, which is much bigger than us, to make the world better”

“In terms of environmental services, our strength is the management of industrial waste, with a very focused vision of technology and the promotion of a circular economy. We help customers manage waste. We have a vision that the waste is not to go to a landfill. It needs to be valued and allocated in a productive way. We work with composting, co-processing, recycling and transformation of these materials, which often end up in landfills. We give it a productive destination, an end, preventing it from not being valued”, said Tello, director of the company that registered, in 2021, more than one million tons of valued waste.

The executive comments that he hopes that the government, which is in transition, will be concerned with promoting the green economy. “We want any government to generate opportunities for companies that work with sustainability. We hope it supports and generates opportunities for companies that work with sustainability. That dialogue with the private sector and the civil sector so that we can achieve the Objects of Sustainable Development in a cooperative way, which is what society expects from us”, he concluded.

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