Essencis to invest 37 million Euros to crush old refrigerators
Valor Econômico 03/11/2009
A mountain formed by obsolete refrigerators with high energy consumption became a business for Essencis Soluções Ambientais. Now, the company, an association between Camargo Corrêa and Solvi, formed by four former executives of Suez, says it is prepared to receive hundreds of thousands of old refrigerators in case the plan of the Federal Government for the replacement for new devices work out. Essencis invested 12 million Euros in the purchase of portable pieces of equipment and it plans on investing another 25 million Euros in other four units, in a process of reverse manufacturing of refrigerators - a method in which the old appliance is disassembled and crushed, and its materials, like iron and plastic, are intended for recycling. According to the company, the process also ensures a safe end to the CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gas, found in polyurethane foams and refrigeration systems of old refrigerators. The program of replacement of the old refrigerators for new ones is being planned by the Federal Government, whose goal is to substitute 10 million refrigerators in 10 years, mainly those of the low income population, in order to save energy. In order perform part of the program, which will define the rules for the collection of the old refrigerators and the adequate environmental destination, the company started investing in the process of reverse manufacturing in partnership with the German SEG, which has a partnership with the company in Brazil to work in this segment. Essencis Manufatura Reversa, a division of the company, foresees earnings of R$ 10 million (US$ 4.3 million) this year, and it expects it to be five times better in 2011. The company has storage units for old refrigerators in Santa Catarina and Paraná that cater to producers of electric household appliances that have voluntarily chosen to give such destination to old devices, besides foreseeing new areas in the units it already has in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. The plans are to open new centers in Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco still this year. "With that, we can serve 70% of the consumption centers", says Castillo.