Catarinense does not view sustainability as something that focuses only on the environment, just as its social responsibilities are not limited to actions or investments in outreach projects. Here, both these concepts are closely entwined.
A set of practices is presented below, demonstrating respect and concern for the environmental conditions of the society in which the company operates.
Worn tires are sold to companies registered with environmental entities, which analyze the feasibility of retreading or recycling them. As a result, their entire energy potential and all materials can be reused, through actions such as burning in boilers.
All spent lube oils are sent to duly registered companies that refine and reuse these materials.
Catarinense has a separation and recycling program for all scrap metal and paper that it generates. Major advantages of this program are savings in energy and the natural resources used to make these materials.
Oily solid wastes run through a clean-up process and are then disposed of correctly by certified companies subject to environmental inspections.
The "Instituto JCA" was set up in late 2004 in order to help low-income youngsters graduate from middle school, while also providing vocational trading courses for underprivileged young people in communities where companies in the JCA Group operate.
Through informative lectures held for its drivers, Catarinense supports the On the Right Track ("Na Mão Certa") Program, which is a Childhood Brazil (WCF Institute) initiative striving to mobilize governments, companies and third sector organizations in the drive to eliminate the exploitation of underage sex workers along Brazilian highways.
On Environment Day, Catarinense runs an environmental awareness-heightening campaign for its customers, distributing 3,000 yellow "ipê" tree seeds, with hints on planting.
Each year, the Keep Warm ("Campanha do Agasalho") campaign brings in clothing, footwear and donations that are then forwarded charity institutions in the towns where the company has branches.
In order to heighten awareness and reduce heavy use of plastic cups, the company gifted its head office workers with personalized mugs.
Conducted since May 2009, the Sustainable Leadership Training Program develops leadership skills based on sustainability, addressing this issue through focusing on environmental, social and economic aspects. Through this project, the company reaffirms its commitment to blend growth with preservation through an environmental management system that is right in step with corporate global citizenship.
With its own equipment and through a partnership with the Depollute ("Dispoluir") Program run by the National Transportation Confederation, Catarinense regularly checks and calibrates fuel injection systems throughout its entire fleet through opacimeters, in order to reduce its CO2 emissions as much as possible .
The company has a partnership with the National Transportation Service ("SEST") and the National Transportation Apprenticeship Service ("SENAT"), which run the Young Apprenticeship Program ("Jovem Aprendiz"), employing these youngsters on its staff.
Catarinense is concerned with replacing conventional plastic garbage bags by biodegradable plastic bags for use by passengers on all our buses. This material breaks down in Nature over periods ranging from one to seven years, while conventional plastic takes at least 200 years to decompose.
The company recycles the water used to clean its vehicles through a three-stage process: physical, chemical and biological, allowing water to be reused up to three times.
It also has a rainwater uptake system, which is used to wash vehicles and building areas. These practices ensure that the company has ceased to consume large quantities of treated water.
All head office sectors have been equipped with paper bins. These materials are collected at the end of the day and taken to a storage facility, and are subsequently forwarded to recycling companies.
The Catarinense branches can send in spent batteries used by electronic equipment to the Central Collection Point at headquarters. These materials are then forwarded to places accredited by the manufacturers to receive them.
Due to the severe environmental impacts caused by the improper disposal of cooking oil, Catarinense has established cooking oil collection facilities on its premises, where employees can bring in cooking oil from their homes that would otherwise be dumped directly into rainwater networks. This spent oil is also sent to locations that then forward it to recycling companies.
The purpose of separating and recycling garbage cleaned up from buses is intended to guide and educate all outsourced employees handling these cleaning services. Through this approach, the company thus helps ensure that everyone involved in the process builds up ecological awareness.
All funds brought in through recycling are channeled back to the benefit of the employees, underpinning outreach activities.
Integrate, qualify and recycle knowledge is the goal of the training given to new drivers and others already on the staff. Run regularly, these sessions address aspects in the fields of human resources, business, industrial safety, maintenance and traffic education.
In order to safe fuel and reduce CO2 emissions, with lighter use of natural resources, Catarinense developed the PROECO program, which trains and heightens awareness among its drivers of the importance of correctly driving the vehicles in its fleet.
This program rewards drivers with prizes every time a consumption reduction goal is reached.
Tire disposal
