special report mexico going green
Mexico going green
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he Mexican government has taken clear-cut actions to address climate change and achieve environmental sustainability. As individuals, we are all responsible for supporting these efforts. What is encouraging, however, is the growing number of Mexican companies that are joining environmental protection efforts, be it via social responsibility programs, the use of renewable energies or the introduction of environmentally friendly production processes. Some have implemented programs to teach their employees respect for the environment; others have gone one step further and aim to raise environmental awareness among their customers. Likewise, more and more environmentally conscious organizations have sprung up to promote recycling, public transport and efficient use of energy. Negocios chose six green initiatives that are destined to turn Mexico into a cleaner, more prosperous country.
20 Negocios
The Sweet Taste of Clean Energy Grupo Bimbo set to be fully wind-powered by 2012
photo Courtesy of CFE
by vanesa robles
Initially, Piedra Larga will have a capacity of 90 MW, which will gradually increase to 227 MW –enough to cover the electricity requirements of the company’s 39 production facilities in Mexico and 26 of its 59 plants operating abroad.
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or the next 18 years, Grupo Bimbo will be relying on Aeolus for its energy. By 2012, the Piedra Larga wind farm in Oaxaca will be supplying all the electricity required by the group’s facilities in Mexico and half of the power required by its plants abroad. In late 2010, Bimbo’s CEO Daniel Servitje announced a partnership with Desarrollos Eólicos Mexicanos (DEMEX), a subsidiary of the Spanish-based Renovalia Energy, for the construction of a wind farm. At an estimated 200 million usd, the Piedra Larga wind farm will be the largest of its kind supplying the food industry and should be up and running by the end of this year. Bimbo has signed up for 18 years’ worth of windgenerated electricity. Initially, Piedra Larga will have a capacity of 90 MW, which will gradually increase to 227 MW –enough to cover the electricity requirements of the company’s 39 production
facilities in Mexico and 26 of its 59 plants operating abroad. The wind farm is a natural progression in Bimbo’s efforts to make its production processes cleaner. In 2002, an environmental management system was implemented to reduce electricity and water consumption, cut down on emissions and properly dispose of solid waste. The system was also made to advance social responsibility toward the environment through a partnership with the Reforestamos México conservation group. As of 2004, Bimbo had channeled 3.5 million usd into electricity saving systems and technology. To ensure no energy is wasted at its facilities, heat generated at certain stages of the production process is captured and used to fuel combustion systems and heat water and oil. According to Bimbo’s 2007 Social Responsibility Report, other environmental
measures the group has taken include the use of renewable energy, like solar power, to heat water and the installation of skylights at its administrative buildings and factories to provide a source of natural light. Together, these measures have reduced the company’s electricity consumption by 13% and the use of thermal energy by 34%. But these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. Piedra Larga’s 114 wind-driven generators will produce roughly the same amount of electricity consumed by 200,000 homes, preventing some 500,000 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere every year. Bimbo expects its agreement with Renovalia Energy to cut its electricity bill by 5%. A sweet deal for both the company and the environment; as sweet as the bread it has been putting on the tables of millions of homes worldwide since 1945. n www.grupobimbo.com.mx
special report mexico going green
Femsa, A Long-held Tradition of Social Responsibility Latin America’s largest beverage company operates a squeaky clean business.
photo Courtesy of FEMSA
by vanesa robles
By 2013, the group projects that 85% of its electricity requirements will be covered by wind farms in Oaxaca. The aim is to prevent 690,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere by maintaining emissions generated by its sales and manufacturing processes at 2004 levels all through 2015.
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ew companies can boast 200 million consumers worldwide but even fewer can claim to have channeled 21 million usd into environmental protection programs. Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA), the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler –and also, a holding company for OXXO convenience stores and the Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma brewery– is said corporation. FEMSA’s friendship with the environment dates back to the 1960s when it installed waste-water treatment plants at its Coca-Cola plants to prevent river pollution. Today, it has branched out into reforestation, energy saving, energy efficiency
and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling programs. According to the group’s spokesman, Carlos Velázquez, FEMSA has been “a socially responsible company for more than 100 years, even before the term was coined.” As a result of policies like waste-water treatment and rainwater collection, the group estimates it has saved some 15 billion liters of water over the last six years at its plants in Latin America. To honor its commitment to return to Mother Nature the same volume of water its Coca-Cola production processes consumes, 99.5% of all waste-water ended up at the group’s 28 treatment plants in 2010. And because forests play such a vital role in protecting water supplies, FEMSA
reforested 25,000 hectares of land with some seven million trees in 2010. But it doesn’t end here. By 2013, the group projects that 85% of its electricity requirements will be covered by wind farms in Oaxaca. The aim is to prevent 690,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere by maintaining emissions generated by its sales and manufacturing processes at 2004 levels all through 2015. When it comes to environmental and social responsibility, the company’s motto is to “expand the business, not its carbon footprint.” So far, it’s doing pretty well on both fronts. n www.femsa.com
special report mexico going green
HP, Green Printing Solutions The company plans to expand its cartridge recycling program in 2012 to prevent tons of plastic ending up in Mexico’s landfills.
photo Courtesy of HP
by vanesa robles
HP has found no shortage of partners willing to help it reach its global citizenship goals. Since Planet Partners was launched, HP customers worldwide have returned 389 million LaserJet cartridges for recycling.
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exico has proven to be an invaluable ally of HP’s Planet Partners program in Latin America. Introduced in 1992, the program provides for the free collection of used ink and toner cartridges for recycling purposes. But that is just the final step in a complex process that begins with the selection of the plastics used to manufacture the cartridges. According to company sources, not only are HP cartridges made from recyclable materials; they also consume less than half the fossil-fuel energy required in the manufacture of virgin plastics. The Planet Partners program emerged from the global citizenship goals and Design for the Environment (DFE) policies in place in over 50 countries where HP has a facility and that the company takes very seriously, says HP spokeswoman for Mexico, Cristina Chao.
The mechanics of the program are simple: once any company has accumulated five empty HP ink and toner cartridges, it can request their free collection. These are triturated to recover plastics and metals that are then used to manufacture new cartridges of the same quality as those of the first generation. HP has found no shortage of partners willing to help it reach its global citizenship goals. Since Planet Partners was launched, HP customers worldwide have returned 389 million LaserJet cartridges for recycling. In 2010 alone, the company collected 69 million cartridges (21,000 tons) and used 8.8 tons of recycled plastics in the manufacture of new cartridges – the equivalent of 490 trailer loads that would otherwise have ended up in landfills. In Mexico, HP’s customers range from corporations to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and final users. “We are
launching a pilot program together with a retail chain, which has agreed to place containers in its stores for the disposal of cartridges. The plan is to extensively expand coverage of the program in 2012,” says Chao. Planet Partners has yielded exceptional results in Mexico and, judging from the number of cartridges collected, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of disposing of their waste products properly, be it out of personal conviction or because they are required to comply with corporate or government regulations, in some cases, as a prerequisite to environmental certification. Whatever the reason, it’s a win-win situation all around: consumers have an incentive to do their bit for the environment, while helping HP meet ISO 14000 environmental management standards. n www.hp.com
24 Negocios
CTS México, The Journey Toward Sustainable Cities Improve air quality in Mexico’s cities, introduce sustainable transport solutions and combat global warming are just some of the goals of this NGO.
PHOTO Archive
by vanesa robles
Some 50 experts in City planning and social sciences are working together with academic bodies, government agencies, the private sector and society at large, on sustainable transport solutions.
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etting from point A to point B in most of Mexico’s major cities can be painful, but the Center for Sustainable Transport (CTS, according to its Spanish acronym) is working hard to make it a pleasurable experience by the year 2050. Starting with the premise that cities were built by people for people, the task of this particular non-governmental organization (NGO) is to advise local transport authorities on public transport, urban development, air quality, climate change and other related public policy issues. Brazil, Turkey, India and the Andean Region have similar centers that are part of the EMBARQ network, a program created by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington D.C. to help implement environmental and financially sustainable
transport solutions to improve quality of life in our cities. CTS has its work cut out in Mexico, where people have become so dependent on automobiles that there is one vehicle for every two or three people in the metropolitan areas of cities like Monterrey and Guadalajara. But rather than considering this as an insurmountable obstacle, the center views it as an opportunity. Under the guidance of former EMBARQ consultant Adriana Lobo and with the firm conviction that sustainable transport and quality of life in our cities should be recognized as basic rights, some 50 experts in city planning and social sciences are working together with academic bodies, government agencies, the private sector and society at large, on sustainable transport solutions. CTS has facilitated portable classrooms for the city of Monterrey and been involved
in transport audits for local governments, like that of León, Guanajuato. It has also worked beyond Mexico’s borders, helping create SIBRT –an association that aims to advance the quality and affordability of public transport in the continent’s largest cities– in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2010. Likewise, it has shared its experiences with the Metrobús and Macrobús bus systems implemented in Mexico City with Istanbul and Kocaeli via EMBARQ Turkey. These contributions earned CTS the 2009 Roy Family Award presented by Harvard University –the award for Best Environmental Performance– and a Transparency Certificate from Fundación Mapfre in 2010. Yet the greatest reward CTS could ever hope for is to help make our cities peoplefriendly in the medium term. n www.ctsmexico.org