Promoters of environmental development

Carbon inventory

Azucarera El Viejo became the first mill in Central America to be declared carbon neutral in the industrial area in 2012. This designation was granted for 3 consecutive years.

As part of the company’s environmental commitment, we are working towards carbon neutrality designation for the entire company.

For Azucarera El Viejo the commitment goes beyond reporting and mitigating the emissions it generates. It works on reducing emission through a variety of projects.

For the company, carbon emission is a critical issue because its production activities generate a large number of tons of CO2e.

Additionally, this is a regulated and high-interest topic at national level, to the extent that the country has signed multiple agreements, among them, an international commitment for the reduction of emissions, recently signed.

The inventory of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) produced by Azucarera El Viejo consists of:

  • 35564 tons of CO2 as direct Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG). The sources of these emissions are: boilers, sugar mill filter cake [cachaça], sugarcane burning, diesel consumption, use of fertilizers, molasses applied on roads, coolants, and industrial wastewater treatment.
  • 134 metric tons of CO2 of other indirect emissions. This consists of the electrical consumption of the company to external suppliers.

Azucarera El Viejo, as a Promoter of Environmental Development, takes on the following actions for the reduction of CO2:

  • Constant measuring of boiler emissions. Commitment with the decrease and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions: we currently reduce 3,375 tons of CO2e and mitigate 66041 tons of CO2. On the final analysis, we see a positive balance, since we fix more CO2 than we release.
  • Green harvesting: the burning of sugarcane has always been a critical issue for the company, due to the impact it has on the community. At present, 61% of the sugarcane is harvested green (without burning) and the remaining 39% is burned under the protection of a decree on burnings and with the necessary safety measures for the prevention of accidents.