The company Votorantim Cimentos decided to use biofuels in its production plant in Cajamar. The Factory replaces the use of fossil fuels with biofuels in its sand drying process, thus expanding production sustainability.

This past Monday (25/07), the company Votorantim Cimentos, a construction and sustainable solutions company, announced that it has switched from fossil fuel to biofuels in the production of mortar in its factory located in Cajamar, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, with the aim of ensuring more sustainability in its manufacturing plant.

The biomass used by Votorantim Cimentos is the result of transforming other waste

Thus, it is important to mention that the biomass used in the process is the result of the transformation of other residues from industrial processes into fuel. The Cajamar factory used biofuel for the industrial drying of limestone, which is one of the raw materials used in the production of mortar. After going through the drying process, the limestone is ground and transformed into sand, which makes up the mortar with the additive and cement.

At the Cajamar unit in São Paulo, more than 200 tons of limestone are dried every year to produce sand. The Votorantim Cimentos factory invested around R$ 4 million in the exchange of specific equipment and the company used biofuels in place of polluting fossil fuels in their entirety, with even more environmental and economic gains, according to the company.

In addition, according to the general manager of mortar at Votorantim Cimentos, Carlos Vicente Flores, the Cajamar plant works sustainably based on the circular economy concept: “We adopt a regenerative approach in the way we do business, eliminating waste, revaluing by-products from other industries and expanding the use of renewable resources. This initiative in Cajamar reduces the impact on the environment, as we are transforming waste that was previously discarded into fuel”, says Carlos Vicente.

With this decision, the company Votorantim Cimentos increases the use of biofuels in its mortar production in Brazil. The company also has two more mortar units that use thermal energy in sand production processes: Rio Branco do Sul (PR) and Belém (PA).

The initiative is in line with the sustainability commitments for 2030

According to the company, the decision to use biofuels in Cajamar is in line with Votorantim Cimentos' sustainability commitments for 2030, especially in terms of the company's environmental and economic footprint. The launch of these goals, still in 2020, aligns all of the company's worldwide operations with the current and future demands of society as a whole, ensuring more sustainability.

With this, the goal of the company Votorantim Cimentos is to reach around 53% thermal substitution, a percentage of alternative fuels to fossil fuels, and to reduce the clinker factor — the main component present in the composition of cement — by 68%, aiming at 2030. points out that the expectation, already in the long term, is that the company is committed to developing and implementing technologies that allow delivering concrete with carbon neutral emissions to society by 2050.

“For Votorantim Cimentos, sustainability is a journey that follows its path. In 2020, the company took another step by renewing its previously established sustainability commitments. To meet the new needs of society, the commitments are also part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global agenda with 17 objectives and 169 goals to be achieved by 2030”, emphasizes the company Votorantim in a press release.