Aquasoja has been focused on a sustainable future, tailoring its strategy towards economic, social and environmental returns. Year after year, Soja de Portugal Group (the owner of Sorgal company – Aquasoja, Sojagado and Sorgal Pet Food brands - and Avicasal and Savinor) has come closer to this sustainable goal through the disposal of certain business areas, synergies between existing areas and a solid focus on innovation and the circular economy.
The group’s circular economic model is based on the concept of recovering co-products belonging to Soja de Portugal, which would normally be discarded, but instead are reintroduced, thereby helping to lower the group’s raw materials costs and reduce the company’s environmental footprint. More precisely, the co-products generated in the slaughtering and cutting process are immediately processed at Savinor UTS and transformed into ingredients for animal nutrition, namely poultry meal and fat.
By processing and recovering animal co-products from other industries, Soja de Portugal promotes:
- Competitive, innovative and sustainable solutions.
- Better tracking of products used in processes.
- A lower carbon and water footprint.
- Control of product quality and origin.
- Lower exposure to external suppliers.
Other sustainable activities
As a result of Savinor's activities, the treatment of animal co-products sometimes results in the emission of non-polluting odors, which can be a nuisance to surrounding communities. To mitigate this, Savinor has invested in technology and improved its co-product treatment processes to lessen the frequency and intensity of odors released. One initiative is the installation of a new WWTP, commissioned in 2017, so that the main odor-causing activities are done inside a closed building, with the permanent extraction of gases generated by a treatment system with a capacity of close to 3,000 m3 of air/hour.
One initiative in the area of emissions involves the elimination of thermal energy production through hydrocarbons at Savinor, namely by replacing fuel oil with natural gas. This initiative aims to reduce the company’s carbon footprint by around 570 tons of CO2 per year, with the additional effect of reducing sulphur and nitrogen oxides (responsible for acid rain). In overall terms, this replacement measure will enable Savinor to reduce its atmospheric emissions of CO2 by around 570 tons per year. Overall, this annual reduction corresponds to the CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere by 4,000 trees for the first 20 years since being planted.
