Sustainable Carbon

MENEGALLI

São Miguel do Guamá/PA, Brazil
Major Cobenefit
Education and Culture
Cobenefits Related
Project Type
Renewable Biomass
Ecosystem
Amazon
Standards
VCS + SOCIALCARBON®
Registry
Markit™ Environmental

CARBON CONVERTED INTO EDUCATION

With the support of the carbon Project, Edson associate director of Menegalli, is investigating several possibilities to stimulate social change within the region.

The ceramic funds a private school that teaches local children and teenagers. The creation of the school was a hearted affair of local educator, Maria de Lourdes, who is trying to provide high quality education to the community.

Her search for support and sponsors caught Edson’s attention, who did not hesitate to provide a considerable amount of financial support to the new found school.

Today the school teaches 106 students from pre-school to elementary level, including the sons and daughters from the ceramic’s employees. Despite its limited resources the school has become a vital stimulant of social change within São Miguel do Guama.

Project Description

Cerâmica Menegalli is a medium-sized ceramic factory in situated in the heart of the eastern Amazon region, in São Miguel do Guamá, Pará – Brazil. The factory produces several types of products for the local construction industry. In July of 2007, the Menegalli stopped using native, Amazonian timber as fuel for its kilns and started using renewable biomass instead. The choice to switch to a more sustainable production process has contributed to both a reduced negative impact on the Amazon Rainforest as well as allowed for an investment in environmental, social and economic sustainability initiatives. Though investments are still made in the factory using the revenues from the credits, nowadays Edson, the entrepreneur at Menegalli, is much more concerned with making investments in his community. Download PDF

Where does your money go?

When buying carbon credits of this project you are supporting , sponsoring , financing and making possible the reduction of greenhouse gases and various initiatives in the social scope , environmental and economic as the following:

Social benefits

  • The factory makes donations to the local community, including to churches, schools, the City Hall, the University of Pará, as well as a recovery and prevention center for drug addiction.
  • It also donated the construction materials to build a technical skills school that trains people for the local job market.
  • A new chimney was also built to avoid the spread of smoke to nearby businesses and homes.
  • In the last 12 months the Ceramic has also invested in improved health and sanitary conditions for the employees.

Environmental benefits

    • Menegalli now only uses renewable biomasses, such as sawdust and açaí pits to generate fuel in the production process.
    • The factory invests in the reforestation of Acacia Mangium and Elephant Grass, known in Brazil as Acacia Australiana (or Acácia Manjo) and Capim Elefante, respectively.
    • It also implemented a systematic plan to redevelop areas where clay was extracted, along with a plan of control of environmental impacts and the recuperation of degraded
areas.

Economic benefits

  • Although Menegalli required financing to buy a new tractor for the production line, to date no difficulties have been presented in meeting the payment deadlines.
  • It has developed a drying process in a “greenhouse” for the drying of the clay tiles, and reuses the heat from the kilns while controlling the overall temperature more efficiently.
  • The measurement of the temperature of kilns in the factory is now executed by thermocouples (automatic sensors which are installed in the kilns).
Amount of CO2e 235150
Number of Beneficiaries 202
Forest Hectares Protected 728

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