Abstract
The pupunha (peach palm) palm heart production in the Vale do Ribeira (southern region of the State of São Paulo-Brazil) brings economic benefits to the region, and environmental risks with the generation of a large amount of waste. The Cleaner Production adoption in the pupunha palm heart factories is a strategy for reducing environmental impacts and generating profit, with consequent rational use of raw material, reuse of waste, and new equipment installation. This research aims to evaluate the Cleaner Production adoption’s environmental and economic benefits in the reuse of waste generated in pupunha palm heart processing. The case study was carried out in a factory, using direct observation, interviews, and documentary data. The calculation of ROI was an adequate tool for economic evaluation, and the adoption of gondolas in the stages of material separation and waste treatment provided improvements in the production processes. The Cleaner Production application increased the theoretical knowledge about the treatment and use of the waste, reduced the environmental impact, allowed the development of a new business, and generated economic gains through the creation of employment and increase of income.
Highlights
In recent years, the world population’s growth has forced an increase in food production, which causes greater consumption of natural resources, energy, and water and changes the environmental, social, and economic conditions (Elliot, 2006)
According to Ramos et al (2018), sustainability practices that allow for increased process efficiency in industries with mitigation and reduced risks to the environment and society are the focus of Cleaner Production
According to Ianovali et al (2018), in the 1990s, quilombola farmers from Vale do Ribeira, a region located on the south coast of the São Paulo State-Brazil, started to extract the palm heart from the peach palm (Bactrisgasipaes Kunth), as the juçara (Euterpe Edulis Martius) became an endangered species
Summary
The world population’s growth has forced an increase in food production, which causes greater consumption of natural resources, energy, and water and changes the environmental, social, and economic conditions (Elliot, 2006). Initiatives for managing water use (Goap et al, 2018), energy (De Laurentiis et al, 2016), and best practices for integrated resource management (Mannan et al, 2018) are essential for sustainable development (Chen et al, 2019). According to Ramos et al (2018), sustainability practices that allow for increased process efficiency in industries with mitigation and reduced risks to the environment and society are the focus of Cleaner Production. Several factories of pupunha palm heart processing were installed in the region, generating employment and income. According to Kapp et al (2003), the pupunha palm heart has simple processing, starting with the peeling process, which generates large amounts of waste, followed by filling in pots, and the cooking of these pots in tanks, a stage in which large amounts of water are discarded
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