The Role of Pulp and Paper in Brazil

Everyone is aware of the importance of paper for humankind. It is by means of paper that we have the transmission of culture and history, the register of day-to-day events, even literature and arts! Nevertheless, there are important social, economic and environmental aspects linked to the pulp and paper industry, which are unknown to the public.

In Brazil, the eucalyptus tree, together with the pine tree, is the main raw material for this industry, an industry that employs 100,000 people and generates several indirect job positions within its productive chain. One can see the business thrive - either with industrial facilities or with plantations - in 450 counties from16 different states, in the five Brazilian regions. The culture only uses degraded soil, never replacing native forests. On the contrary, our industry actively preserves an area of rain forests the same size as the area used for the industrial plantation of eucalyptus.

One of the industry's major concerns is the environmental balance between production areas and natural reserves, in need to preserve the flora and the fauna. The industry cultivated forests form a consortium with native reserves that account for 1,5 million hectares of preserved land with the intention of promoting the variety of the flora and fauna, protecting the quality of the water sources and assuring the maintenance of the planted forests themselves, which are a natural and renewable resource.

Contrary to European, Asiatic and North American countries, Brazil manufactures pulp and paper exclusively from planted forests of eucalyptus and pine. It is thanks to these species that our industry may be proud to say that it uses not a single native tree to manufacture its products. From eucalyptus and pine, US$ 2,9 billion of Brazilian pulp and paper were exported during 2004, leading to a trade balance of US$ 2,2 billion to the country.

In an average, our industry made a social investment of US$ 1,6 billion per year, computing taxes, wages, social security payments, social burden, medical care, community actions, professional training for its workers, education and culture.

Brazil recycles 3 million tons of paper per year, that is, 44.7% of the domestic apparent consumption. In addition, approximately 50% of all the power consumed by our industry is self-generated by the pulp production process itself.

In terms of quality of air, the industrial forests of eucalyptus and pine also offer an important contribution because in the photosynthesis process, the growing trees absorb a larger amount pf carbon dioxide than the adult tress do. Whereas the Brazilian pulp and paper industry owns 1,5 million hectares of planted forests for the production of pulp and paper - in 394 municipalities of 11 states - other countries use larger extensions of land. Besides, the industrial forest plantations in several of these countries receive subsides of their government, which does not happen in Brazil.

The Brazilian forestry productivity is envied by other manufacturing countries because the size and the climate of our country provides competitive edges for the pulp and paper production based on planted forests: not only we do not use native trees but eucalyptus and pine grow much faster than in other northern hemisphere countries, which are the leading world producers.