Sustentabilidade na ferrovia brasileira: destinação de resíduos como uma abordagem estratégica de negócio

Abstract

Although still far from the relevance of countries with continental dimensions, the Brazilian railroad currently has almost 30,000 kilometres of track in operation, in addition to more than 60 requests for the construction of new railroads and sections under evaluation by the federal government. An operation of such magnitude and intensive in heavy equipment and maintenance is responsible for a large generation of waste such as sleepers, ballast gravel, rails, and metal parts, which have high added value. On the other hand, there is an increasingly latent need for organizations to develop their strategies from the perspective of sustainability, seeking to meet their business interests, also bringing value to the environment and society. In this sense, this application project has the objective of proposing actions that contribute to the best destination of waste from the Brazilian railway operation in the context of sustainability. To reach the proposed objectives, it was decided to carry out a qualitative research approach, of an exploratory nature, based on the case study of three Brazilian railroads. As a result, it was possible to observe that the disposal of waste is a topic much discussed within the railways and similar sectors such as the road, but with great opportunities for exploration. Especially in this work, it was decided to develop a proposal for the application of a method of segregation and destination of noble scraps in workshops, with low investment and high return with specialized sales, proposing a pilot implementation in the VLI workshop in Divinópolis - MG. The purpose of the proposal is to apply a process that brings better financial returns, but also allows for a more sustainable disposal of waste through reuse and recycling, in addition to generating own or outsourced jobs.