BRK Ambiental Is On A Mission To Improve Brazil’s ESG Standards

Innovation BRK Ambiental Is On A Mission To Improve Brazil’s ESG Standards Judith Magyar Brand Contributor SAP BRANDVOICE Storytelling and expertise from marketers | Paid Program Aug 4, 2022, 12:00pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Treating the equivalent of 100,000 olympic pools of wastewater per year is not for the faint-hearted. BRK’s exemplary performance is only possible with the right technology. The company implemented SAP S/4HANA in 2020.

Uso exclusivo na divulgação de produtos e serviços da Odebrecht Ambiental. Nenhum outro uso é permitido sem prévi When BRK Ambiental comes to town, they build more than just a sewer. The company is one of the largest privately owned waste management organizations in Brazil – a country of over 200 million people, of which half do not have access to sewage networks.

“The need is great,” said Alain Arcalji, Vice President, Shared Services, BRK Ambiental, at the recent International Conference for Utilities, presented by SAP and TAC Events in Munich, Germany. “Giving people access to clean water and sanitation is the same as giving them dignity. ” Improving lives In the vast majority of Brazilian slums, raw sewage is dumped directly into the street or nearby waterways.

Lack of sanitation is directly connected to a myriad of health, environmental, and social problems. The greater the deficit of proper sewage, the lower the life expectancy at birth. Every year, hundreds of thousands of workers in Brazil miss work due to gastrointestinal problems linked to poor sanitation.

Studies show that children with access to sanitation have 18% higher educational attainment than those without access. In addition to serious health risks, lack of sanitation has widespread detrimental environmental effects. “Sanitation serves as a building block to improving quality of life and guaranteeing safe and healthy living conditions for residents,” said Arcalji.

“But most importantly, we go beyond the basics. We make people feel good about themselves and their community. I’ve seen neighborhoods flourishing once sanitation has been installed.

Where sludge used to run, people are whitewashing the walls. Where you once had wasteland, people are planting trees and gardens. ” BRK’s purpose is improving lives.

The company’s strategy is fully aligned to all the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but goal #6, to ensure access to water and sanitation for all, is its core business. The journey to better waste management is fraught with obstacles and hampered by conflicting political interests particularly in terms of investments. Public opinion, on the other hand is obviously positive.

The company, which operates 22 concessions serving 16 million customers, works hand in hand with local public entities to negotiate contracts, secure funding and permits, build and manage infrastructure and create awareness. “Brazil’s water networks are old and faulty. Only 60 of every 100 liters that go through the system are actually used,” Arcalji explained.

While the world’s largest river system, the Amazon, is found in Brazil, there are thousands of kilometers and many arid landscapes between it and the nation’s largest cities and industrial activities in the south. Meeting the needs of communities across the world’s fifth-largest country requires massive investments in new infrastructure, including thousands of kilometers of waste management networks and systems. Accurate reporting on environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) factors is a top priority.

In 2021 BRK was rated #1 Company ESG Risk Rating – Sustainalytics in the Americas in the ESG Risk Rating for Water Management by Sustainalytics , a global provider of high-quality, analytical environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, ratings, and data to institutional investors and companies. Globally, it was rated #4. “We’re very proud of these results,” said Arcalji.

“Our goal is to achieve zero emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the target set by the United Nations. And we aim to reduce water leakage from 35 to 25% by the end of this decade. ” Driving efficiency Treating the equivalent of 100,000 olympic pools of wastewater per year is not for the faint-hearted.

BRK’s exemplary performance is only possible with the right technology. The company implemented SAP S/4HANA in 2020. Arcalji, reponsible for all shared services including IT, asset administration, and financial planning, was put in charge of the transformation project two weeks before the start of the pandemic.

At the same time, Brazil adopted a new regulatory framework aimed to provide 99% of the population with clean water access and 90% with adequate sewage facilities by 2035. With no federal regulations in place, performing the job is up to the states and municipalities, which in turn depend on private and public partnerships with companies such as BRK. “The competitive landscape practically changed overnight,” said Arcalji.

“SAP S/4HANA gives us the necessary agility for onboarding new concessions and consolidating legacy platforms and systems, and it provides a robust platform for sustainable growth. With SAP, we can handle the surge in competition and also provide our customers with digital services, an absolutely crucial requirement in this day and age. ” According to Arcalji, the project succeeded as well as it did thanks to a dedicated communications campaign to create awareness throughout the company about the importance of transformation.

In addition, process owners were given full control of their areas and were trusted to make the right decisions. As a result, BRK Ambiental now has a single source of truth, completely standardized and streamlined business processes, and analytical capabilities covering all aspects of the business. It was also able to radically reduce legacy systems, which led to significant gains in total cost of ownership.

Arcalji had high praise for his team of 100 who helped ensure the success of the 12-month implementation. He concluded that migrating an ERP system is like launching a rocket. “You can test all the parts as often as you want, but you’ll only know if it works as a whole once you launch it,” said Arcalji.

“After that, there is no way back; it will either crash or fly. Ours flew high. ” Follow me on Twitter @magyarj Follow me on Twitter .

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