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Food industry waste finds a new destination in Nova Odessa, where leftovers rich in sugar and starch undergo fermentation and distillation to become alcohol and ethanol used in Ambipar’s operation, in a project that combines reuse, biofuel, and circular economy.
In Nova Odessa, in the interior of São Paulo, Ambipar maintains a project that transforms leftovers from the food industry into alcohol and ethanol for use in part of its own operation, within a strategy focused on the circular economy.
Named Ambiálcool, the initiative utilizes waste rich in sugar and starch, such as bread, cookies, chocolates, pasta, and candies, materials that previously would have gone to conventional disposal destinations after industrial processes or quality control.
Through sorting, fermentation, and distillation, these wastes become part of a new production chain, focusing on the reuse of organic materials that still retain energy potential before being treated as waste.
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According to data released by the company and specialized publications, more than 500 tons of food waste are processed per month, with an estimated yield of between 200 and 350 liters of concentrated alcohol per ton, depending on the composition of the material received.
How food industry leftovers become fuel
Before scaling up, the project went through tests initiated in 2021, when the company evaluated the use of sugar waste collected at the Port of Santos, an experience that served as a basis to expand production.
From these results, Ambipar began to use leftovers generated in production processes and in the quality control of food industries, including items outside commercial standards but still suitable for the conversion process.
In practice, waste with a higher starch and sucrose content shows better yield in alcohol production, as the conversion depends on the presence of fermentable sugars in sufficient concentration to sustain the industrial process.
This factor explains the preference for materials such as chocolates, cookies, candies, bread, and pasta, foods that concentrate components useful for fermentation and help increase the efficiency of conversion into concentrated alcohol.
Since the beginning of the project, Ambipar has already reported the production of at least 500,000 liters, including 46% versions, intended for cleaning, 70%, aimed at sanitization, as well as ethanol used as fuel.
Station in Nova Odessa fuels Ambipar fleet
At Ambipar’s operational complex in Nova Odessa, the station connected to Ambiálcool was structured to fuel light vehicles of the corporate fleet, creating a direct application for the fuel produced from food waste.
With this structure, the company reduces part of its dependence on conventional fuels in its internal operation and, at the same time, provides an energy use for materials that would require treatment, transportation, or environmentally appropriate disposal.
On its institutional page, Ambipar states that the station was planned to supply about 2,000 liters of ethanol per day to the internal fleet, as part of a set of environmental initiatives developed in the São Paulo municipality.
Also in Nova Odessa, the company claims to adopt practices of waste valorization and reduction of landfill disposal, aligning the project with other actions aimed at material reuse in its operation.
Although it does not replace the traditional production of ethanol in Brazil, which is heavily based on sugarcane, the technology operates on another front by transforming existing industrial leftovers into input for fueling and other uses.
In this model, the focus is not on additional cultivation of raw materials but on utilizing waste that has already gone through production chains and still retains value before its final disposal.
Circular economy applied to biofuels
Ambipar presents Ambiálcool as a circular economy solution because it reinserts industrial waste into a new value chain, instead of treating food leftovers merely as an unproductive environmental liability.
By transforming part of this volume into alcohol for cleaning, sanitization, and fueling, the process expands the possibilities of using discarded materials and creates an operational alternative for waste from the food industry.
This model can also help reduce costs associated with waste disposal, although the impact varies according to logistics, material composition, production scale, and the company’s own internal demand.
For this reason, the initiative functions as a reuse project with direct application in Ambipar’s operation, without relying, so far, on widespread sale of the fuel to common consumers at conventional stations.
The proposal received international recognition at the Green Product Award 2025, an award focused on sustainable products, services, and concepts, highlighting solutions that present practical applications in sustainability.
According to Ambipar COP’s institutional page, Ambiálcool was awarded in Berlin, Germany, while CNN Brazil reported that the project won in the Audience category.
Ethanol production depends on the composition of the waste
Despite the maximum yield reported, the production of up to 350 liters per ton does not apply to any type of food waste, as efficiency directly depends on the chemical composition of the material received.
The estimate is linked to waste with high sugar content, especially when there is a high concentration of soluble solids, a condition considered relevant for the fermentation process used in obtaining alcohol.
Therefore, the selection of raw materials occupies a central stage of the operation, as waste with lower sugar or starch content tends to offer less efficiency in industrial production.
When the concentration of these components is higher, the process performance improves and allows converting food waste into alcohol with a yield closer to the upper limit disclosed by the company.
The operation also involves partner brands in the collection of food waste, according to Ambipar COP, which cites companies like Mondelez and Bunge among the suppliers of recycled material.
This connection with large industries helps integrate the waste recovery cycle into the food production routine, creating a destination for materials that do not reach the final consumer but can still generate value.
In addition to supplying the fleet, the project reinforces a broader discussion about the use of urban and industrial waste as an energy input, especially in processes that utilize already available materials.
In the case of Ambiálcool, the differential lies in the use of existing food waste, without the need for additional cultivation of raw materials and with application restricted to Ambipar’s operation and its associated processes.
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