SAMARCO
SALVAMAR PROJECT
ONE
COMPANY,
ONE
IDEA
On one hand, the natural beauty of beaches and mangroves, on the other, the strength
of an industrial plant and a harbor, important both to the company and the country’s
economy. Converging on them, old fisherfolk communities live from the sea.
What to do to harmonize all this? How to guarantee recuperation and preservation of the
environment and to ensure continuity and development of modern and traditional
economic activities?
The answer given by Samarco, a mining company, and Guarapari’s community, a city on
the Brazilian coast, is a partnership between company and community, based on a new
way of understanding and acting.
A project, developed from the idea of a sailor working in a company’s tugboat, helps to
avoid the discharge by fishermen of large amounts of oil into the sea - an event
comparable to a large accident -, ensures income improvements for them and is an
example of a new kind of harmony between company, community and their environment.
It is a straightforward project with significant environmental and social reach. It is also a
symbol of a new manner of making things happen: empowerment, participation and
articulation with stakeholders.
What characteristics and actions of Samarco made this program possible, from the
origin of the idea to its launch? What can and should a company do to multiply
opportunities like that?
THE COMPANY1
Samarco produces iron-ore pellets, for use in direct reduction and blast furnace
metallurgical processes, and concentrated ore fines.
Its yearly production capacity is 12 million tons of iron ore pellets and 1 million tons of
concentrated ore fines.
Samarco was born 25 years ago as a project linked to steel-producing companies
(Samitri, of the Belgo-Mineira Group, and Marcona, a North American company).
Due to incorporation, privatization and selling processes, the control over the company
became equally shared (50% to 50%) by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and BHP
Billington, a company belonging to the Australian group The Broken Hill Proprietary
Company Limited.
Only under this shareholding configuration has Samarco truly started to operate directly
on the global pellet market and not through Samitri or BHP. Today, Samarco is the
second largest player in the pellet sea borne trade.
To guarantee closer proximity with and better service for clients, Samarco established
offices in Europe (Amsterdam) and Asia (Hong Kong).
A processing plant and the Alegria Mine constitute the Germano Unit, in the cities of
Mariana and Ouro Preto, state of Minas Gerais. Its deposits amount to 5.6 billion tons.
In the city of Anchieta, state of Espírito Santo operates the Ponta do Ubu Unit, a
complex formed by two pelletization mills and their own maritime terminal. The two cities
are linked by a 396 km-long iron ore pipeline capable of transporting up to 14 million
1
More information in the site: www.samarco.com
tons per year. The duct transfers concentrated ore produced in Minas Gerais to the
pelletization unit in Espírito Santo.
BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL ENVIROMENT
The ore pipeline and the conveyor belt system used in the mining process enabled
economic exploration of Itabirite, a low iron content ore formerly rejected. The need of
using state-of-the-art technology and innovating processes was a necessary condition
for the enterprise’s viability since the very beginning.
The iron market depends directly on the steel market. In the last few years, it
experienced an intense process of consolidation. Today, 80% of the global production
comes from three companies: Rio Tinto, BHP and Vale do Rio Doce, two of them
Samarcos’ shareholders (BHP and Vale). In the last four years iron ore’s prices dropped
20% and, although some recuperation is expected, it will hardly reach previous levels. A
more competitive market, higher quality requirements and the increased importance of
environmental concerns have all represented great challenges for Samarco and required
intensive efforts towards development, modernization and increase in profits and
profitability.
In 1990, Samarco analyzed 250 profitable companies and selected 25 as objects for
case studies. Based on the reasons found for their success, development projects were
designed, including implementation of the management process.
The following table contains the implementation timetable for some of these projects:
1991
1992
Normatization
QTS - Sol Project - Maspet
Beginning of the ISO 9000 Project
1993
Routine Management
1994
ISO 9000 Certification
1995
Beginning of the ISO 14000 Project and
Implementation of Management Systems and
Managing by Directives
1996
Benchmark
1998
ISO 14000 Certification and Knowledge Management
1999
Analysis and Solution of Problems
These projects are part of the Management Model and are important steps in the
developing process proposed for the company that began with the implementation of
internal process and normatization, followed by quality, environmental, occupational
health and safety management models. The establishment of a focus on the client, a
global benchmark, and a search for domestic and international recognition completed
such developing process.
The statement of Mission, Objectives and Values of Samarco lead the steps of this
process.
The Management Model contributes for the internal dissemination of such strategic
definitions, cause the participation and commit the employees with the objectives and
goals of the company. The following diagram represents the planning process:
Gestão Estratégica na Empresa
MANAGEMENT
MODEL
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
MOTIVATED PERSONNEL
Gerenciamento pelas Diretrizes
Managing
Gerenciamento
by Directives
pelas
Diretrizes
PRODUCING
VALUE FOR THE
SHAREHOLDER
Samarco
Planejamento
Business
Review
Estratégico
Management
Seminar
Diretoria
QCAMS
QCAMS
Board
of
Conselho
Directors
Montly
Meeting
4-month
Meeting
2-month
Meeting
Carta
para o
“Diretrizes
Q
Biênio”
C
______________
Letter
______________
A
M
S
______________
Directives
______________
______________
Biannual
Melhorias
Improvement
Seminário
Bianual
Seminar
Q
C
A
M
S
AnnualRotina
Routine
Seminar
Seminário
Anual
______________
______________
______________
Budget
______________
______________
2001
Consumers/Clients
Suppliers
PlanoCorporate
Anual
Annual
Goals Plan
Corporativo
de Metas
Q
C
A
M
S
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
Community
Government and Society
Values and Transparency
Environment
Internal Public
4-month
Meeting
3 Generation
Report
Goals
Planos
de
Plan
Metas
Routine
Unidades
Management
Gerenciais
Monthly
Evaluation
Meeting
Control items and PA for
improvements and critical
items
The starting point is the so-called “Quality House”, which values the success conditions
of the company. Next, there is a longer stage of definitions, Samarco 2010 Vision, that
was established after the presentation of scenarios and perspectives by Officers and
Managers, at a one week seminar. This Vision unfolds in the Strategic Planning, in
which the defined goals are considered directives for the Improvement Plans (Biannual
Seminar) and the Routine Management Plans (Annual Seminar). Based on the definition
of such seminars, the Annual Corporate Goals Plan is produced, and unfolds in the
Goals Plans and Routine Management.
Each plan has specific terms and mechanisms for its monitoring. The Monthly Routine
Management Meetings involve management (Officers and Managers) and are open to
any employee. Currently over 200 control items are evaluated and there is a rigorous
failure analysis process. As per the words of the Human Resources General Manager,
Benedito Waldson Pinto, the process of Improvement Development is an important
success factor of the company: “Samarco has an overhead to think. Think, develops and
tests technologies when those prove feasible they are incorporated and become routine
very rapidly”.
Even though its mechanisms may be eventually refined, the process as a whole has
already been consolidated in the company. Currently there are roughly 700 rules, from
the mine to the port, dealing with Quality, Environment, Health and Safety. The following
diagram illustrates the “foundations” of the “Quality House”.
ISO
9002
ISO
14000
OHSAS
18001
GIRH
Human Resources
Integrated Management
Manual of Routine Management- Process Standards
Specification and Operational Standards
Computerized Management System
To guarantee competitiveness for its products, the market requires the company to
comply with international quality standards and to certify its products according to the
largest possible number of them. Besides that, there is a great concern in avoiding the
generation of financial, environmental or social liabilities. As per Francisco Dutra, the
Management Risk General Manager, “at Samarco there is, currently, the consciousness
in each department and employee that if it does not operate according to international
standards it will not be generating any value to the company”.
A common characteristic of these certification development processes is that Samarco
does not contract external consultation packages. The company starts creating a study
group to assess and analyze the necessary processes. The employees involved in such
groups are removed from their functions in order to dedicate to such activity.
Occasionally, these groups may rely on external consultants, but only to support their
understanding of some subject. The result is the creation of a group of people who know
the company and who are qualified to implement the necessary processes. An intense
internal persuasive process is carried out. Voluntary professionals, the so-called
“multipliers”, study and are prepared to spread the knowledge throughout the company
and to mobilize the organization for the necessary changes.
Several initiatives were conducted this way such as ISO 9000 and ISO14000, the
Management System and many others. The same process is being carried out now for
the PNQ and the risk management system.
Samarco is considered a benchmark in terms of organizational atmosphere. An internal
survey was recently carried out but results are still under evaluation. The previous
survey, carried out in July 1999 by Hay do Brasil, showed that Samarco “not only
sustained the leadership in Hay’s organizational atmosphere ranking but also increased
its rate. The general satisfaction index reached 76%, compared to 74% in 1996. About
97% of employees participated in the survey”.
The proximity between Samarco and its employees comes from the beginning of the
company. During the enterprise installation, they constructed villages in Mariana and
Ubu, to lodge employees close to the mill and the harbor. Up to 250 families used to live
in the village in Mariana. The proximity of employees, their families and the company
created a very close relationship between the parties. At this time the company being the
great provider. In the village in Mariana, the company offered a communal restaurant
open to the families of employees. The school was entirely maintained by the company.
On the other hand, adhesion and solidarity offered by families was absolute. Aware of
their dependence on the company, whenever sales dropped or any incident required
interruption of activities, the women would gather and pray for a quick recuperation.
Time changed this relationship, reducing dependency. The transition process was
implemented in order to preserve the good relationship between company and
employees. The school was transferred to the city’s administration but the company
guaranteed technical support to keep quality standards. The houses were sold to
employees but the company financed the transaction and reinvested the money in a
housing program for the other employees.
This transition for a culture of results was supported by actions of internal
communications, such as events and specific publications, but, also through the
development and valorization of leadership communicative behavior and of the planning
and monitoring process. To Madelon Piana, Manager of Corporate Communications
“when direct communication, made by leaderships, is not present and is not attentive to
employee’s needs, it produces an expectation with regards to the formal means of
communication that will hardly be achieved”. Therefore, communicability is one of the
attributes analyzed during evaluation and a criterion for the promotion of managers.
The company implements an evaluation process of 360 degrees. The negotiations are
based on the definition of objectives. There is a defined capability chart and a variable
remuneration system implemented. The turn over is traditionally low. There is a policy of
investment on employee’s education and the instruction level indicators have been
increasing due to such initiative. The following graphs show such evolution.
1996
1.480 employees
SAMARCO’S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION POLICY
2001
1.285 employees
The growing importance of environmental matters generated, along the last two
decades, several initiatives to stimulate volunteer measurement and release of
information related to environmental impacts. This means a significant improvement in
the understanding of the subject.
Legislation in several countries established different assessment systems and the
proliferation of indicators, though contributing to environmental improvements, resulted
in a very narrow base for comparisons. Some of these initiatives established themselves
gradually as important benchmarks in their own areas, among them those constituting
ISO 14000.
These regulations are intended to provide companies with criteria for the voluntary
environmental management, so as to broaden their capability to manage impacts and
risks and to improve processes that may lead to better environmental performance.
Certification is based on the analysis of an extensive range of parameters and
represents a challenge for the companies. To implement it with the necessary
seriousness and comprehension, the company must carry out a true process of cultural
change.
In Samarco’s case, this implementation represented a third historical moment for its
Environmental Protection Policy.
Samitri, owned by Luxembourgian shareholders (ARBED Group) and Marcona, a North
American company, both among Samarco’s original shareholders, brought from their
original countries environmental concerns still not prevalent in Brazil. Stabilization
ponds, for instance, were still considered unnecessary expenditures, in Brazil. Even so,
the first moment is characterized as of “total reactivity”.4 In 1991, The Federal
Environmental Protection Legislation and the subsequent creation of environmental
protection agencies and implementation of environmental licensing procedures gave rise
to the necessity of better structures to handle environmental issues. Samarco contracted
out the first large environmental project, the PRAD – Programa de Recuperação de
Áreas Degradadas (Degraded Areas Recuperation Program). The project signalizes the
beginning of a second stage: instead of acting in response to external requirements, the
company turned to a proactive attitude.
Environmental Consultancies were created in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, each
state where Samarco operated. However, since there was no well-defined environmental
policy, each one of them acted at will, generating two distinct ways of action, disputes
among them being the natural consequence.
In 1996, the company’s president invited a mine-planning engineer, Vitor Feitosa, to
coordinate the company’s Health, Safety and Environmental Protection initiatives, tasks
formerly assigned to the Human Resources function. The Consultancies did not report to
the coordinator himself but had to follow guidelines established by him.
Samarco then started the development process of an Environmental Protection Policy
that should lead to the ISO 14000 certification. As usual, no consulting package was
contracted, the project being internally developed. An Environmental Management
System (SGA) was created and is considered as the great differential: the SGA was
developed based on international standards but in accordance with Samarco’s needs
and profile.
A great training effort was developed, carried out by “multipliers” recruited from several
areas of the company. But like many other necessary initiatives, this was not free from
conflict and debate: areas that did not want to offer their professionals to act as
multipliers, resistance to changes - ‘because we have always done that this way’. Along
the process, Samarco tried to deepen its relationship with the community. Previously,
this relationship was restricted to sporadic donations without any strategic intent, a form
of good-neighbor policy. Now, the goal to be achieved was transparency in the
relationship. “The door had to be opened although we knew there would be strong
criticism, and it happened exactly that way.” Samarco started to voluntarily promote
public hearings to present environmental and social results of its activities.
An interesting initiative took place within the Pelletization Division: the GAMA – Grupo de
Amigos do Meio Ambiente (Group of Friends of the Environment). The Group gathers
employees who voluntarily commit themselves to the monitoring of environmental control
items impacted by their activities. Such monitoring is performed along the work process
itself, during daily activities. There are groups for every shift and results are presented to
all during periodic meetings. New goals and alternatives of improvement are also
discussed during these meetings. The GAMA is led by employees elected by colleagues
and is self-managed. Interest and results of its internal activities led the Group to extend
its action to the external world, supporting activities of environmental protection, giving
lectures in schools and associations and contributing to the community.
As Sandrely A. Lopes, environmental protection analyst, said, “the environment is no
longer the exclusive responsibility of Environmental Protection Divisions but of
everyone”. Each area manages its own control items; the environmental concern flows
over the walls of the company and ‘contaminates’ the employees’ quotidian routines, in
the family and in the community.
In 1998, Samarco was recognized as the first iron ore producer to obtain ISO 14001
certification for all stages of its production process.
FIELD OF IDEAS
The organizational atmosphere and the Social Responsibility and Environmental
Protection Policies mold the concepts and explain the concern that gave birth to the
Salvamar Project but it was the Field of Ideas (Campo de Idéias) program that made it
operational and created the conditions necessary to its implementation.
In 1989, a group of company’s executives participated in a managerial developmenttraining program. The final activity of the course was the presentation, by the executives,
of a viable project of interest for the company and that would consolidate the knowledge
acquired.
The company’s president himself suggested to one of the groups the development of a
reward system to stimulate employees to contribute with ideas and innovative
suggestions that could improve routines or be relevant for the company’s strategy. The
President was aware of one experience conducted within the Belgo Mineira Group, since
Samarco, through Samitri, was also part of this Group. The Technical and Administrative
Merit Award of the Belgo Mineira Group was conferred to employees that suggested and
implemented innovative ideas.
This suggestion was in accordance with the objectives that appear in Samarco’s Mission
Statement
“Continuous drive towards a high-performance organization, in which every
individual accepts responsibility and is rewarded for results.”
The project was developed and presented by the group in the Training Program but,
back in the company, after conclusion of the course, the proposal was forgotten. Each
member of the group belonged to a different sector and daily activities absorbed all their
available time and efforts.
As Vitor Feitosa commented: “Penido (Samarco’s President) never forgets! It must be
implemented”, was the order given to the members of the group. The management area
was indicated to manage the project.
A process was defined, ranging from the presentation of the idea up to the rewarding
process.
c
Chartflow
1
Phase
IDENTIFICATION OF
IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITY
How
Who
Observing possible improvement according
to: targets , routine management, processes,
experience and perception.
EMPLOYEE
Filling out the form "Improvement Proposal"
(PM - CI) for participation in the program Field
of Ideas.
Meeting the group coordinator.
2
P
PROPOSAL
ANALYSIS
MANAGER
Analysing financial and technical feasibility
and alignment with Samarco targets and
objectives up to 10 workdays after receiving
the proposal.
Completing the form "Improvement Proposal"
( PM - CI)
N
?
APPROVED ?
Y
Using the method agreed with the manager.
D
C
N
3
ELABORATION OF
ACTION PLAN
GROUP
4
IMPLEMENTATION
OF ACTION PLAN
GROUP
5
CHECKING RESULTS
?
RESULTS
ACHIEVED?
COORDINATOR /
MANAGER
Filling out the form "Action Plan"(PA - CI) and
arranging the necessary support with the
manager.
Accomplishing planed actions.
Measuring the attainement of the proposed
target.
Filling out the form "Checking Results
(VR _CI).
Y
6
STANDARDIZATION
COORDINATOR /
MANAGER
7
AWARD
QUALITY SYSTEM
A
Setting a standard, if necessary, reassessing
the targets and training the employees.
Using the criteria stablished in the "Award
Criteria for the Field of Ideas" standard.
The Program is oriented according to the following objectives:

Encouragement to the generation of ideas throughout the company

Promotion of innovation and creativity

Reward and recognize employees’ contributions
Promotion of teamwork Works were distributed in two categories: Category 1, including
proposals regarding Quality, Cost and Attendance and Category 2, including proposals
regarding Environmental Protection, Safety and Morale. Approved and implemented
ideas are presented during the Annual Fair. More than 2,500 people, including
community members and Samarco’s employees, visited the fair in 2002.
One hundred ideas were submitted along 2000, the first year of the “Field of Ideas”,
since September 27, date of the Program’s introduction, to November 16. Of these, 75
were approved by their divisions and passed to the next stage, the elaboration of action
plans. A total of 148 employees of Ubu and Germano units participated in the program,
together with three other employees of contracted companies Rawmec, Incorpori and
Construtora Ouro Preto, in Germano.
Currently, the “Campo de Idéias” is an important complement to the formal process of
improvement development, integrated with the Management Model.
MISSION, VALUES AND OBJETICVES – “CASA DA QUALIDADE” – DIRECTIVES LETTER
BUDGET DIRECTIVES – BUDGET - MBR REPORT
MANAGEMENT
SEMINAR
ES
TR
AT
ÉG
I
A
GOALS PLANS
IMPROVEMENT
SEMINAR
FIELD OF IDEAS
ROUTINE
SEMINAR
GOALS PLAN 4-MONTH MEETING
MONTHLY ROUTINE MEETING
IMPROVEMENT
ROUTINE
OPERATION
VERIFICATION
PLANNING
The program’s overall results along its three years of existence confirm the positive
perspectives of the first year. They are:

Average of three contributions per employee

87% of personnel have already presented improvement proposals to the
program, at least once

Financial return of US$11.01 per US$1.00 invested

Of the 1,509 approved proposals between September 1999 and June 2002, 792
were implemented and 717 are currently being implemented.

59 of the proposed ideas address environmental improvements.

Samarco already patented some of the ideas presented within this program.
GAMA’s President, Gerson Oliveira, statement shows one of the reasons for the
success of the Field of Ideas program and of Samarco itself: “I worked for several other
large companies but never got as much satisfaction. Here, they are willing to listen, they
like ideas.”
THE SALVAMAR PROJECT
The seventh idea submitted within the Field of Ideas program made history in the
company.
As part of the activities for the SGA (Environmental Management System)
implementation, the sailor Sebastião Machado participated, together with other Samarco
employees, in a training course offered by Petrobrás on the elaboration of an Oil Spill
Emergency Plan. They were given instructions on how to elaborate such a plan, how to
act in case of accident and information about the environmental impact of oil spills into
the sea. Tião, as Sebastião is known, is son of a fisherman. Married, with two children,
he lives in Perocão, a fishermen village, near Ubu. About 80 fishing boats arrive there
every day. Back from the training course, he commented with other colleagues - among
them Sandrely Amigo Lopes, an environmental protection analyst -, that the region’s
fishermen discarded into the sea or buried in the sand all the oil used in their boats’
engines.
Sandrely knew that “this kind of coastal environmental pollution is considered as one of
the most harmful to the environment. Although frequent, the doses are small and hence
considered to be inoffensive. Lacking information, most of the fishermen did not
understand the impact on the environment.” They noticed the disappearing of some
species, followed the disappearing of the mangrove’s flora and the loss of the “sun’s
brightness reflected on the sea”2 But even uncomfortable, they did not care much about
the oil’s final destination.
The conversation between Tião and Sandrely awoke both the technique and the seaman
for the necessity of doing something. The initial idea was to lay barrels in the areas used
to park boats and collect the used oil. They wanted to do that immediately. Sandrely had
to call for patience: “Let’s stay calm friends... we have experience and knowledge about
oil spills but not about work with communities.”
She talked to his boss and he agreed to the idea, committing himself to the necessity of
finding a solution for the matter. The first factor required for success had been achieved:
support of the area’s leadership. “The manager has to support the idea and I was lucky
to have a very sensitive man as my manager”, says Sandrely.
José Luís Ramos- fisherman- cit in the Annual Report- 2001
The harbor’s personnel proposed sending it to the Field of Ideas. The program had been
recently launched and represented a channel to achieve a commitment that would go
beyond the good will and the interest of the involved persons. If the idea were approved,
it would become a company’s project.
After the approval, the project had now to be detailed and executed. A careful planning
started, including many conversations with fishermen, their associations (such as the
Colônia, which is a kind of cooperative) and the Environmental Protection Agency of the
Espirito Santo State. Enthusiasm and anxiety regarding the project had to be kept under
control in order to allow consideration of all possibilities. This process of clear perception
of the reality and of exchange of experiences gave birth to a project’s conception later
implemented in Perocão.
Samarco recycles the oil it uses and its Ubu plant has all the equipment necessary for
the process: the centrifuge, the filters and the laboratory to check the quality of the oil.
All this equipment offers unused capacity.
According to the Salvamar Project, the oil would be collected, recycled and resold to
fishermen at a price to cover processing costs. The fisherman who discarded at least
90% of the capacity of his oil tank would be awarded. This would stimulate more
adequate engine maintenance, avoiding excessive burning of oil and consequent
pollution of the sea.
In turn, the fishermen would have to participate in environmental education courses
aimed at sensitizing fishermen to the “environmental impacts of rejects resulting from
fishing, whether garbage or oily residues.”
The first community to be included in the project was that of Perocão’s fishermen. These
are simple people, less than half of which have completed elementary school. Seventy
percent of them have incomes in the 200-to-400 Real (US$ 60-to-120) range. They
participated in meetings and courses. Besides acquiring knowledge on the environment,
they developed their organization capabilities and learned to discuss and decide as a
group.
The fishermen were registered as well as their boats, including the oil volumes used in
each watercraft, in order to quantify the amount of rejects. About 300 boats with
approximately 900 crewmen joined the idea. Boats were equipped with adhesives
identifying them as participants in the Salvamar Project.
A 680-liter collector and a tank for the sale of recycled oil were installed and the project
operations started. Samarco assigned an employee to take care of the Salvamar station.
The choice ended up indicating Gilberto Machado, who lived in Perocão and was
identified with the project’s ideas. However, haste in completing and operating the
project raised one problem. The period necessary for filling the collector, collecting and
recycling is approximately three months. Because of that, the fishermen would initially
have to collect the oil for this period without having it back, recycled. Anxiety did not
allow them to wait. Pressure and the wish to see the project succeed forced Samarco to
commit Shell, a Samarco supplier, and they negotiated the supply of new oil at prices
equal to production costs until completion of the first recycling period. When the recycled
oil finally arrived there was strong resistance due to its color. Even after recycling, the oil
keeps a darker color than new oil. And new oil sold at prices equal to production costs
represented already savings. Pressure was then exerted aiming at a continued sale of
new oil at production-cost prices. But this would compromise the whole concept of
recycling. Fishermen are aware of the importance of the oil: “you know ... oil is the life of
the engine.”
Samarco tried to convince the fishermen to accept the recycled oil, to make them
understand that the color was not related to quality but they didn’t change their opinion
until now.
After Perocão, the Salvamar project turned to the fishermen’s community in Anchieta.
This time things proceeded differently. The fishermen themselves, after they became
aware of results achieved in Perocão, looked for the city’s Environmental Protection
Agency in search of help, but the Agency did not show much interest for the idea.
The State Environmental Protection Secretariat interfered with the process and
reinforced the request of the fishermen and, in November 2001, the project started
operations in a similar way as in Perocão. Meetings, courses and visits to Samarco were
previously conducted to present the oil recycling process and the laboratory, where
adequacy for use was checked. The oil sold within the project was recycled oil, right
from the start.
Other fishermen communities are coming to Samarco and to Municipal Environmental
Protection Agencies to ask for the implementation of the Salvamar Project in their areas.
The initial problem regarding the use of recycled oil seems to be overcome. The
Salvamar implementation leader in the community of Prainha de Muquiçaba, José
Augusto Caudonazi, commonly named Deco, is already registering the fishermen.
Regarding the quality of the recycled oil, he says: “There is no problem at all. When it
comes from Samarco we believe.” Deco is an enthusiast of the Salvamar Project. “This
is a fantastic project. I tell everybody: try and implement that in your community, too. The
other day my boat stopped in Jacareípe. I talked to people over there. They already
knew about the project and they want it too.” In Muquiçaba, they once installed barrels
on the beach but there was neither collection nor recycling. The oil collected ended up in
the sand and was taken into sea by the tide.
Implementation in Muquiçaba started with the participation of all those interested. The
community wanted it and went to the Municipal Environmental Protection Secretariat.
They started participating as facilitators, scheduling a meeting with Samarco and
supporting the communal discussion and mobilization process. In the Municipal
Secretary Giovana Kill’s opinion, the process is a guarantee for the project’s
permanence. Belonging to everyone, the project does not run the risk of discontinuance.
The Salvamar Project received many awards. It won the first prize in the international
contest promoted by BHP. Technicians and the tugboat sailor that created the idea were
taken to Australia to receive the US$2,500 award, which they intend to invest in a new
social project at Perocão, still under development. Salvamar’s annual budget reaches 15
thousand Reais (around US$ 4,000). To allow return for the company in terms of public
image, it is necessary to publish information about the project and its results. But the
cost of publishing the information is higher than the investment in the project itself
In Sandrely’s opinion, the reason for the project’s origin is that “we learned so much that
the knowledge ended up being brought into the community”. Because they have the
knowledge, they recognize that there is much to be done and initiatives joining
company’s social policies and employees’ volunteer actions are multiplying themselves.
The Salvamar Project proceeds with its path. There is still no risk of overburdening
Samarco’s recycling equipment but there is an increasing interest in finding partner
companies that may expand the idea to other regions. Samarco would then contribute
with the operational model, since they now understand about oil spills but are also able
to jointly work with communities.
AN IDEA THAT GREW
The Salvamar Project presents a complete conception. From the environmental
viewpoint, it encompassed the complete cycle of oil utilization, including oil recycling and
reuse, and stimulated consumption reduction. From the social standpoint, it contributed
to the development of the community, broadening its knowledge and its participation in
issues important to the environment they are in, stimulating new values, increasing selfesteem, because every citizen contributes and participates, and enabling the reuse of
oil, reducing costs and increasing the fishermen’s income.
The average saving of R$70 (seventy Reais, around US$20) in the monthly consumption
of oil is significant for the fishermen and a strong reason for initial adhesion, since only
registered fishermen, participating in the project, were allowed to buy recycled oil. But,
after the training course and the lectures, motivation towards environmental protection
increases and fishermen change their habits regarding other rejects such as plastic
bags, nets and fish leftovers. Most of them bring back trash to land and throw it in the
barrels close to collectors.
They even collect other objects they find on water for adequate disposal. Fishermen
from other regions, still not participating in the Salvamar Project, are coming to the
collection stations to dispose of oil after hearing their colleagues commenting on the
impact of inadequate disposal.
Since the beginning of the work, more than 2,000 liters of oil have been already
collected, both in Perocão and in Anchieta. The project is in its final implementation
phase in Muquiçaba and initial contacts have already been made with Iriri and
Inhaúma’s communities, including meetings and visits to Samarco. In Perocão, the
recomposition of the mangrove’s flora can be already noticed and it is common to hear
fishermen saying: “The mangrove has to be preserved because it is the sea’s nursery”.
Shareholders visiting the company want to know about Salvamar project, banks
operating with the company include it in their sustainability assessment of the company.
The recognition of its importance is a stimulus for other employees and the management
to adopt and implement new ideas.
Whenever the Salvamar Project is implemented in a new community, new knowledge
and new improvement and action opportunities are discovered. Luiz Milagre, a
fisherman, wrote a sentence in a text he prepared for the contest named Histórias de
Pescador (Fishermen Stories), one of the Salvamar’s activities, that could very well be
transposed to the management and daily life of companies, so that learning and
transformation become permanent characteristics: “The sea is an infinite school and we
never know all its mystery.”
SOURCES
Samarco Annual Report 2001
Olinta ........- Lecture at Mix ABERGE 2001
Interviews
Samarco
Ana Paula Gomes Costa - Management Internal Consultant
Benedito Waldson Pinto - Human Resources General Manager
Francisco Dutra - Management Risk General Manager
Gerson Oliveira - GAMA’s President
Madelon Piana - Corporate Communications Manager
Sandrely A. Lopes - Environmental Protection Analyst
Sebastião Machado – Sailor - Salvamar Creator
Vitor Feitosa - Health, Safety and Environmental Protection Initiatives
Coordinator
External Stakeholders
Giovana Kill - Environmental Municipal Secretary
Meetings with:
Perocão Fisherman Group
Anchieta Fishermen Group
Muquiçaba Fishermen Group