An essential field of activity
Odebrecht now provides environmental engineering services through a new subsidiary called Lumina
written by ◦ José Enrique Barreiro and Ricardo Arnt photos by ◦ Almir Bindilatti and Holanda Cavalcanti

There is promise for growth in the environmental services market created by legal requirements and the burgeoning ecological awareness in Brazil. Competition from foreign companies entering the Brazilian market, the lowering of import barriers and the demand for eco-friendly exports with “green seals” have forced Brazilian companies to rethink costs and concepts, particularly losses incurred during productive processes. Reducing, reusing and recycling waste, as well as properly treating and disposing of it, are environmentally responsible measures that add value to products, improving their efficiency and economic performance and enhancing the image of the companies that make them.

Following the Group’s tradition of recognizing and seizing new opportunities, Odebrecht Engineering & Construction is now active in environmental engineering through Lumina, a subsidiary established in July 2004.

Lumina brings together Odebrecht’s experience in structuring major engineering projects in Brazil and other countries, and the environmental protection expertise of Cetrel, a company originally created to provide industrial waste management services at the Camaçari Petrochemical Complex.

“We believe in the potential of the environmental sector,” says Marco Cruz, Managing Director of Lumina. “The culture of environmental protection has always been an integral part of our work, but carrying out and providing environmental services on a large scale is new to us.” Previously CNO’s officer responsible for Peru and Central America & the Caribbean, Marco Cruz has spent 18 years of his life in Lima, Peru; Panama City, and Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. He adds that his next challenge will be “consolidating a business that will meet the market’s many and varying demands, while winning and managing qualified contracts with a focus on the client.”

Lumina is active in four areas: industrial waste treatment, urban waste treatment, wastewater treatment with a focus on water reuse, and managing water and sewer concessions.

Lumina has teamed up with Cetrel to treat industrial waste. That partnership resulted in the creation of Cetrel Lumina, a company formed by both partners for that specific purpose. Founded 27 years ago, Cetrel’s operations have expanded beyond the Camaçari complex, and the industrial waste management company now provides its services to a range of clients from other parts of Brazil.

Lumina’s services will also include the treatment of urban waste. “Waste treatment and disposal requires environmentally sound solutions, which is not happening in most Brazilian cities,” says Paulo Couto, the Lumina officer responsible for Business Development. Less than 30% of municipalities dispose of urban waste appropriately, and the sanitary landfills that do exist are reaching saturation point. In most cities, trash is disposed of in open-air dumps, which are seriously harmful to the environment in many ways. For example, there are over 500 municipalities in São Paulo State, one of the most developed parts of Brazil, and only half have landfills. São Paulo City, the state capital, produces about 12,000 tonnes (metric tons) per day of household waste.

Urban sanitation requires investments from municipal governments that are often beyond their means, which creates a demand for public-private partnerships. “This market is in need of a technological upgrade, particularly when it comes to waste treatment and disposal,” says Paulo Couto.

In the area of wastewater treatment, the cost of water is on the rise due to increased consumption and new laws and government regulations setting taxes on water obtained directly from rivers. Large industrial consumers such as petrochemical plants, oil and gas companies, steel mills, mines and car factories are taking measures to reuse water instead.

Lumina will also manage municipal water and sewer services through concession agreements, as well as operating water supply and treatment and sewage disposal systems, just as Águas da Limeira has been doing for 10 years in the city of Limeira, São Paulo. Lumina owns a stake in that company, in partnership with the Suez Group from France.

Cetrel-Lumina partnership

When Cetrel began operations in 1978, the Camaçari Petrochemical Complex was just getting started. Now called the Camaçari Industrial Complex, it contains petrochemical plants, car factories, paper and pulp mills, copper plants and breweries. Over the course of its 27 years, Cetrel’s original mission of collecting, treating and disposing of liquid and solid waste produced by companies at that industrial district has broadened and the environmental protection company has taken on greater responsibilities.

Today, Cetrel has a modern treatment plant that handles organic waste from 62 companies, the equivalent of a city of 2 million people. Its collection system is 60 kilometers long, and includes eight pumping plants and a 5-km marine outfall that discharges treated wastewater into the sea with excellent dilution and dispersion. Cetrel owns and operates the largest incinerator facilities in Latin America, including sophisticated incinerators for hazardous waste, both liquid and solid.

Lumina

“We have broadened and diversified the range of environmental services we provide to keep pace with the industrial district’s expansion,” says Dênio Cidreira, 38, the company’s executive director. Since its inception, Cetrel has acquired new competencies, expanded its lab, hired people with master’s degrees and doctorates from foreign universities and started providing diagnostic tests and measurements for contaminated areas and air-quality monitoring, among other services.

As a result, Cetrel Lumina can offer its clients integrated solutions for all kinds of industrial waste. “We will manage these services in accordance with the Total Waste Management (TWM) concept, including the installation of waste treatment plants,” says Paulo Couto.

Cetrel Lumina’s operations also focus on decontaminating degraded areas and providing emergency services to clean up oil spills. “We have planned integrated measures involving Environmental Protection and Civil Defense centers to intervene after an accident that could potentially endanger the environment,” says Marco Cruz. “It’s like a special task force for crisis management.”

As a result, Cetrel is expanding its client base beyond Camaçari and rendering its services in other markets. Cetrel Lumina is already providing environmental services to 40 clients outside the Camaçari Complex through over 100 industrial waste processing contracts. “Cetrel and Lumina complement each other,” says Dênio Cidreira. “Our challenge is to harness these synergies and grow.”