15/05/2017
For more than 10 years, Samarco has looked for some alternatives to advantageously use the mining tailing, and among the studies conducted by the company, the use of this material for paving and for coloring the plastic wood was considered as a possibility. Those products can be seen from Friday, May, 12th, in the BeGreen Project: the first urban firm in Latin America developed in Belo Horizonte (MG) and Samarco’s partner.
Through the partnership established, Samarco provided sandy tailings and sludge to the products that were used in the manufacturing of interlocking blocks. The final use for those blocks is the paving of the space and the creation of furniture. For the production of the interlocking blocks used on the farm floor, Samarco’s sandy tailing was used. “The use of the sand tailing as a substitute for a part of the sand volume in the production of these blocks was technically proven as viable. It actually brings the same safety and durability of a block uniquely made of sand, besides being greener.” Says José Eli Goulart, commercial manager of Uni-Stein, the company responsible for manufacturing the blocks used in the paving of BeGreen’s farm.
Samarco also provided the sludge for the production of plastic woods, used in the manufacturing of decks, tables and chairs for the space. Because the sludge is non-organic, it is used as a pigment considered as more durable in giving color to the wood, that is made of plastic trimmings and vegetable fibers. The pieces were manufactured by Ecoblock, which, like Uni-Stein, participates in this initiative with Samarco.
BeGreen
In 2017, Samarco signed a partnership with BeGreen, the first urban farm in Latin America, located at the Boulevard Shopping, in Belo Horizonte. It is a space for the production of organic vegetables with an innovative cultivation system in consortium with the fish farming.
Sustainability is also part of the space construction. Indeed, the whole urbanist project of the farm, from paving the floor, designing the electrical installations to the furniture of the place, was conceived with the premise of using recyclable materials.
Studies
The studies regarding the use of tailings, conducted by Samarco, are developed in partnership with some universities and companies, such as the Institute of Science and Technology (CDTN). In 2013, an area of 2,000 m² in the municipality of Guarapari (ES) was paved with interlocking blocks similar to those of the BeGreen space. Samarco has also used the same type of block in the reconstruction of the city of Barra Longa (MG), which is made of the sediment removed from the Risoleta Neves Hydroelectric Power Plant (Candonga).
From now on, the objective is to continue developing and consolidating new technologies to take advantage of the company’s waste and tailings, including in the business development and the design of other products.
Learn more about the partnership between Samarco and BeGreen in the video below:
