Water

Water is a resource of extreme importance and particularly critical for the food industry. In BRF, as in most private sector industries, the scarcity of water resources can compromise several results and make some of the productive processes unfeasible – from the fields to the factories.

Still, in our production processes, we perform measurements and daily management of water consumption and prioritize the capture of surface sources, reducing underground exploration and avoiding the use of public water.

We actively participate in the River Basin Committees of the regions where we are present and engage our business partners, with assessments and indicators that address the issue of water. In the chain, integrated producers are responsible for water management in their operations. However, BRF supports those interested in adopting new technologies for resource optimization. The integrated ones are monitored and evaluated annually through a sustainability checklist, which evaluates the availability of water in the last year.

Our management adopts, among other measures, a methodology of risk assessment and water vulnerability, defining an exposure score for each one of them and planning preventive and corrective measures. The tool assesses factors internal and external to the operation, related to the availability and quality of the water and to the dependence of the unit on the resource. Its application aims to build a water vulnerability map of BRF operations, compare risk indicators between units and subsidize projects and investments to mitigate risks.

By means of actions such as water reuse (avoiding a new withdrawal from the environment), the prioritization of surface abstraction (with greater renewal of the resource), the treatment of wastewater for its launch and the return of about 95% of the water (since BRF does not use water as raw material), we work to position ourselves as a company that uses this important resource in a responsible way.

Year after year, controlling water resources in the regions where BRF operates has been one of BRF’s top priorities. Follow the BRF Annual and Sustainability Report, all projects and actions that have been modernizing over time.