Avaliação ambiental de processos industriais : cálculo do índice de pressão ambiental (IPA) em uma indústria alimentícia por meio da seleção de indicadores ambientais no software SAAP

Abstract

The food industry holds significant importance within the manufacturing sector, contributing substantially to Brazil's GDP and employment generation—an importance that is even greater in the Northeast region compared to the national average. The challenge for companies in this sector lies in finding ways to grow in alignment with climate change while seeking more efficient production methods with reduced environmental impact. This article aimed to develop and apply a methodology for measuring environmental performance in a food industry, based on the calculation of the Environmental Pressure Index (IPA), using the SAAP software. The qualitative data from the treated effluent samples at the enterprise's treatment plant yielded a result of 0.0092 for the Eutrophication Index (EI) and 0.0333 for the Dissolved Oxygen Depletion Index (DODI). Regarding the Energy Consumption Index, the result was 16,323.63 based on the enterprise’s energy consumption data, while the Environmental Pressure Index (EPI) was calculated at 10,128.99. Finally, the article proposes a discussion on how these indicators can play a strategic role or be directly integrated into an organization's environmental strategy. Furthermore, it explores ways to improve the energy consumption efficiency of the enterprise in the context of environmental management in food manufacturing industries. The environmental impacts resulting from production were assessed using SAAP software. The monitoring of industrial processes was conducted at a food company specialized in manufacturing corn-based snacks, located along the PE-060 highway in the municipality of Suape, during November and December 2023. The three evaluation criteria that constitute the developed reference methodology are: product, production process, and emissions. Five evaluation indicators were used, each accompanied by a numerical identifier, a description, a general objective, its metric and unit of measurement, and a scale to assess the effectiveness of each indicator. As an example, the reference framework was applied to assess a snack food company, which achieved an environmental performance score of 10,128 points. The values obtained for environmental performance analysis were 10,424.71 for the Global Warming Index (GWI), derived from carbon dioxide atmospheric emissions data from the enterprise, and 6,667.79 for the Acidification Index (AI), based on emission data.