..:: EUCALYPTUS ONLINE BOOK ::..

Introduction

The Eucalyptus wood is increasingly replacing the wood from native trees used by the construction industry. This can be easily explained by its greater availability in the forest products markets, appropriate quality/end-purposes and the rapid growth and sustainable management of the plantations (Revista da Madeira, 2010).

According to Zenid and coworkers (2003), wood is a renewable resource, which when is well utilized and maintained, can have multiple uses and long and extended life in the construction industry. The small diameter Eucalyptus roundwood is usually obtained from the first thinning of the plantations - trees having usually two to four years. It can also be a result from sprouting/coppicing management, leaving several trees to grow in each stump and managing then to be thin in diameter, to be sold for such purpose. Thus, their diameters are to be relatively thin, ranging from 5 to 15 cm, with a length of wood pieces from 2 to 5 meters, depending on the end-uses, but in all cases the pieces must be straight along (Partel, 2006).

Taking into account economic aspects, the first thinned wood from Eucalyptus plantations (small diameter roundwood) is considered to be quite inexpensive, so it is extremely useful and can be used for various purposes at the construction industry and related businesses. The use of such wood for this industry may be temporary, being utilized as molds for concrete, scaffolding and shoring; or may be definite that is nobler, and may act as the main raw material timber (Zenid et al., 2003). Small diameter roundwood can also be used for the preparation of anchors/chocks, supports and also for manufacturing rustic buildings. They may be used in the construction of roofs, roof structures, pillars, columns, floors, decks, sheds, kiosks, fences, walls, and especially, in manufacturing children's toys such as large playgrounds, swings, slides, among similar toys (Partel , 2006).

In addition to the first plantation thinning and sprout/coppicing management to lead to small diameter roundwood, we may have a third source for this wood: the core of larger diameter logs, resulting from veneering by rotating delaminating devices. The central part of these logs have higher amounts of knots (knotty corewood) and therefore they are discarded as wastes. Thus, these very uniform residues may also be properly treated and used both in toys and in rustic buildings.

The main purpose of this paper is to present the commercial uses for the Eucalyptus small diameter roundwood, with emphasis in the construction industry, highlighting its main economic, social and environmental advantages and some disadvantages. Some of the processing technologies will also be mentioned.

Uses of the small diameter roundwood

Small diameter roundwood is defined as a part of the tree trunk that has almost null wood processing. They can be long and thin rod-alike logs, obtained from the tree with or without transverse sectioning, where very often the bark is not removed from. They are mainly used for making choking's and scaffoldings. When wood is treated with preservative products, it can be used for rustic buildings, mainly in rural areas and also in the production of short electric poles and fences. Now-a-days, the timber from the planted Eucalyptus forests is commonly used for this purpose (Zenid et al., 2003). In 2001, the same authors observed that approximately 33% of lumber consumed in Sao Paulo was used for temporary purposes, and for the manufacture of molds for concrete and for the fabrication of scaffolds.

Advantages of the small diameter roundwood

The roundwood obtained from the first thinning of Eucalyptus plantations is used in construction works and it can generate substantial economic gains. According to Partel (2006), most of the wood sector companies working with such kind of wood perform tailor-made designed projects to customers for the construction of floors, kiosks, staircases, balconies, toys, among others, thus adding value to products with significant financial returns.

Chaul and Tibirica (2006) observed the economic feasibility of producing Eucalyptus 3 meters long anchors by harvesting 2 year-old plantations in a place close to Goiania, GO. The authors emphasized that the 1,558 trees per hectare produced 3,116 anchors, selling them for R$ 30.00 to R$ 36.00 per dozen (1 US$ = 1.65 R$). The results were quite interesting and considered economically feasible at the time of the study.

In 2005, Baena has also analyzed the economic feasibility of Eucalyptus plantations aimed at producing noble hardwood. The first plantation thinning, which occurred three years after planting, had provided wood for the production of anchors to be used in construction industry. According to the author, the income generated in that process was sufficient to pay all costs of land leasing, paying back a part of the initial plantation investments.

Fagundes (2003) reported that no other raw material temporarily used in civil construction works has so many environmental benefits such as timber, mainly by providing low environmental impact, being a renewable and reusable resource. The use of wood from planted forests for this purpose also reduces the deforestation of native forests that previously had their wood also widely used in this specific function (Revista da Madeira, 2010; Ponce, undated).

The small diameter roundwood after fulfilling its working function, it is often discarded or used for combustion, generating energy in industrial processes. However, it is possible to recover this product for its own reuse at construction works, achieving additional incomes. Sometimes, its new use can provide even higher economic values when compared to the previous one.

Barros and Melhado (2006) showed that this kind of material is easily found in the supply markets, with low costs. These two advantage points are some of the reasons for temporary use of roundwood in building constructions.

Another advantage is the continuous launching of new businesses and job creation for the production of roundwood products, as those related to the manufacture of toys, poles and rustic buildings, promoting improved quality of life for many communities (Ponce, undated). After all, in a country growing in population like Brazil and demanding for housing and comfort, there is always growing demand for these products, because this wood has replaced other types of materials in this sector.

Disadvantages of the small diameter roundwood

Despite the growing use of small diameter roundwood in construction works, there are experts in this issue who pointed out the heterogeneity and roughness of this raw material as the main problems and obstacles to its use as anchors (Barros and Melhado, 2006). The authors commented that the anchoring with the material hinders the flattening. Also, the uncertainty of the wood mechanical properties makes the project sizing always to be calculated for the worst case. The lack of specifications and quality assurance has been an obstacle to increased use of this material.

There are Brazilian laws restricting the use of wood in building structures, especially because wood is sensitive to combustion due to be a fuel material. The lack of specific improved plantations for this quality, the low durability of the product and lack of tradition in the use of this material are other barriers, mainly for the construction of larger buildings (Barros and Melhado, 2006). These authors have observed that these wooden anchors, depending on the species used, have low load capacity, requiring large quantities of pieces under the concrete slab for proper shoring. This hampers the movement of people by the high number of struts, leading also to lower quality of work due to deformations which the timber may eventualy suffer. Thus, in buildings with strict quality controls, shoring with wood is not recommended, being replaced by metal struts.

Recovering the wastes of small diameter roundwood

After the temporary use in construction works, the struts, anchors, and remainings of wooden molds, often can no longer be oriented to the same purposes. According to Gerolla (2010), the material has not received proper treatment and have low strength and quality cannot have a noble reuse, as the use in a sawmill or furniture-making. Thus, the timber could be used for the preparation of packaging boxes for vegetable/fruits, and for generating energy by burning in boilers and furnaces in manufacturing industries, pottery and even in restaurants.

Treating the small diameter roundwood

The wood used for shoring purposes may become very much affected with regard to its durability, especially when in environments of high humidity and temperature variations (Zenid et al. 2003; Felten, undated). It is for this reason that the roundwood to be used in rustic buildings and anchors should be submitted to previous treatments to increase the lifespan of the wood, thus avoiding the attack of detractors agents, such as fungi and termites.

The most recommended treatments for such roundwood type are those using machines that combine pressure/vacuum to inject the wood preservative chemical inside the wood structure. However, there are some treatments of wood that can be performed in non-industrial processes (with no pressure) (Jankowsky, 1990).

According to Brinque Park (2010), the treatment of roundwood used in rustic construction and toys could be performed at autoclaves (vacuum/pressure). During the process, a water soluble preservative (CAA or CCB) impregnates the timber. In case the user may want additional security in relation to chemical preservatives, he can varnish or paint the exposed parts to prevent physical contact with the chemical.

Montana News (undated) indicated that technologies already exist, which are well used to enhance and improve the durability of roundwood up to 50 years (according to its use), not requiring many repairs or extra monitoring along this period.

The method of replacement the sap by preservative chemicals in green roundwood (without the utilization of pressure/vacuum autoclaves) is indicated for Eucalyptus logs with diameters from 7.5 to 15 cm and maximum length of 2.5 m. The treated logs must rest for 30 days after treatment of wood, which, if well done, can increase the lifespan of the wood by up to five times (Pereira, undated).

The Brazilian standard that regulates chemical preservation of wood to extend the life of wooden structures is the NBR 7190 (Timber structures), helping users to make more rational application of these chemicals (Revista da Madeira, 2010).

The treated wood at preservation plants have much better specifications than the woods in the raw form. The treatment allows the utilization of other species of Eucalyptus, in addition to the wood of Corymbia citriodora. This enables the wood of other species such as Eucalyptus urophylla, E.tereticornis, E.paniculata, E. urograndis, E.dunnii, E.microcorys, etc.

Final remarks

The growing demand for housing in Brazil makes also increased the need for wood in the civil construction industry. Although wood is a renewable resource, it must be rationally used. The temporary use of wood from the first thinning of Eucalyptus plantations can help the construction of buildings, as props, anchors, stilts and scaffoldings. The wood of the first thinning can also be directed to the construction of rustic buildings and toys in large playgrounds or toy parks, adding value to this material and providing a social destination very much appreciated by the communities.

Further research studies should be encouraged to develop the most correct specifications and characterization's for this type of wood, considering the various species of Eucalyptus in Brazil. Some of the targets could be: increasing the durability of the material, reducing the disadvantages, and aiming to promote improvements in the quality of this roundwood for other noble purposes, as the construction of houses and vertical buildings (Dias,2009). Thus, by having available for civil construction a renewable material that helps sinking carbon from the atmosphere (much better than the metallic ones) and fully recyclable or biodegradable, we have the possibility to use additional quantities of raw materials that will be promoting more sustainable benefits to society, not only in economic ways, but also environmental and social.

Just ahead, please find a series of technical papers, brochures and educational websites related to the use of Eucalyptus small diameter roundwood both for temporary use in buildings, and for the manufacture of rustic buildings, toys, etc.

Please know more about the benefit of these Eucalyptus products at:

Brinque Park. Technical Information. Accessed on 16.11.2010:
http://www.brinquepark.com.br/informacoes-tecnicas/ (in Portuguese)

Madeira para uso sustentavel na construcao civil. (Wood for sustainable utilization in the construction industry). IPT - Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnologicas do Estado de Sao Paulo. Revista da Madeira 122. (2010)
http://www.remade.com.br/br/revistadamadeira_materia.php?num=1433&subject=
Constru%E7%E3o%20Civil&title=Madeira%20para%20uso%20
sustent%E1vel%20na%20constru%E7%E3o%20civil (in Portuguese)

O que fazer para reaproveitar o resto de formas e escoras depois que a obra e finalizada? (What to do to reclaim/reuse the rest of forms and anchors after the construction work is completed?). G. Gerolla. 12 Questions and Answers about Wood. Painel Florestal. (2010)
http://www.painelflorestal.com.br/noticia-8893-12+perguntas+e+respostas+sobre+madeira.htm (in Portuguese)

Uso da madeira de florestas plantadas na construcao civil e no mobiliario: tendencias e perspectivas. (Use of wood from planted forests in the construction industry and furniture manufacturing: trends and perspectives). M. A. R. Nahuz. CT Floresta-IPT. PowerPoint presentation: 41 slides. (2010)
http://www.opec-eventos.com.br/msflorestal/dowload/marcio.pdf (in Portuguese)

Manual ajuda no uso de peca rolica em construcoes. (A guidebook helps the use of roundwood pieces in contructions). V. Dias. USP News. (2009)
http://www.usp.br/agen/?p=1483 (in Portuguese)

Tecnologia da construcao de edificios. (Technology for building construction). I. F. H. Sabbatini; F. F. Cardoso, L. S. Franco; M. M. B. Barros. Department of Civil Construction Engineering. USP - University of Sao Paulo. Lecture 9. 16 pp. (2007)
http://pcc2435.pcc.usp.br/Aulas%20em%20pdf-2006-2007/3-%
20Estruturas/PCC%202435%20Aula%2009_2007.pdf (in Portuguese)

Recomendacoes para a producao de estruturas de concreto armado em edificios. (Recommendations for the production of reinforced concrete structures in buildings). M. M. S. B. Barros; S. B. Melhado. USP Texts. Handouts of the course Technology for the Construction of Buildings I. 89 pp. (2006)
http://pcc2435.pcc.usp.br/textos%20t%C3%A9cnicos/
estrutura/apostilaestrutura.PDF (in Portuguese)

Paineis estruturais utilizando madeira rolica de pequeno diametro parahabitacao social: desenvolvimento do produto. (Structural panels using small diameter roundwood for social housing: product development). P. M. P. Partel. Ph.D. Thesis. College of Engineering. USP - Sao Carlos. 245 pp. (2006)
http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18139/tde-05102006-
182833/publico/PartelPriscila.pdf (in Portuguese)

A rentabilidade economica da cultura do eucalipto e sua contribuicao ao agronegocio brasileiro. (The economic profitability of Eucalyptus plantations and its contribution to the Brazilian agribusiness). E. S. Baena. Conhecimento Interativo 1(1): 3-9. (2005)
http://www.florestalouroverde.com.br/florestalouroverde.com.br_rentabilidade_eucalipto.pdf (in Portuguese)

Madeira: uso sustentavel na construcao civil. (Wood: sustainable utilization in the civil construction industry). G. J. Zenid et al. 1st edition. IPT. 60 pp. (2003)
http://www.sindusconsp.com.br/downloads/prodserv/
publicacoes/manual_madeira_uso_sustentavel.pdf (in Portuguese)

Viabilidade economica de florestas de eucalipto no estado de Goias. (Economic feasibility of Eucalyptus plantations at the state of Goias). T. N. Chaul; L. G. Tibirica. PUC- Goias. 16 pp. (2006)
http://www.ucg.br/ucg/prope/cpgss/ArquivosUpload/36/file/VIABILIDADE%20
ECON%C3%94MICA%20DE%20FLORESTAS%20
DE%20EUCALIPTO%20NO%20ESTADO%20%E2%80%A6.pdf (in Portuguese)

Producao de madeira serrada e geracao de residuos do processamento de madeira de florestas plantadas no Rio Grande do Sul. (Production of sawn timber and generation of wastes from wood processing using raw material from plantation forests in Rio Grande do Sul). H. A. V. Fagundes. Master Dissertation. UFRGS - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. 173 pp. (2003)
http://www.lume.ufrgs.br/bitstream/handle/10183/4567/000412901.pdf?sequence=1 (in Portuguese)

Estruturas de edificios em concreto armado submetidas a acoes de construcao. (Structures of reinforced concrete subjected to building actions). J. F. M. A. Prado. Ph.D. Thesis. College of Engineering. USP - Sao Carlos. 201 pp. (1999)
http://www.set.eesc.usp.br/pdf/download/1999DO_JoseFernaoAPrado.pdf (in Portuguese)

Custos de construcao. (Construction costs). F. C. Baeta; V. Sartor. UFV - Federal University of Vicosa. Handouts. 96 pp. (1998)
http://www.ufv.br/dea/ambiagro/arquivos/Construcoes.pdf (in Portuguese)

Fundamentos de preservacao de madeiras. (Fundamentals of wood preservation). I. P. Jankowsky. IPEF. Documentos Florestais (11): 01-12. (1990)
http://www.ipef.br/publicacoes/docflorestais/cap11.pdf (in Portuguese)

Tecnologia que protege a madeira. (Technology to protect the wood). Montana News. Year XIV (9). 03 pp. (Undated)
http://www.montana.com.br/content/download/3752/39253/
version/4/file/News+-+Estrutura+de+madeira+roli%C3%A7a.pdf (in Portuguese)

Uso da madeira de eucalipto na construcao civil. (Use of Eucalyptus wood at the civil construction industry). C. Foelkel. Ask the Euca Expert. Question 772. (Undated)
http://www.eucalyptus.com.br/eucaexpert/Pergunta%20772.doc (in Portuguese)

Madeira de floresta. Construcao civil. (Forest wood. Civil construction). R. H. Ponce. PowerPoint presentation:50 slides. (Undated)
http://homologa.ambiente.sp.gov.br/EA/cursos/ciclo_palestras/151007/ReinaldoPonce.pdf (in Portuguese)

Tipos de estacas. Construcao civil. (Types of anchors. Civil construction). D. Felten. FAG - College Assis Gurgacz. Powerpoint presentation: 53 slides. (Undated)
http://www.fag.edu.br/professores/deboraf/Constru%E7%E3o%20Civ%EDl/1
%20bimestre/Aula-5.2%20Funda%E7%F5es%20Profundas.ppt#328,11,Construção (in Portuguese)

Imunizacao da madeira rolica do eucalipto. (Immunization of Eucalyptus roundwood). J. D Pereira. EMATER-MG. Powerpoint presentation: 10 slides. (Undated)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19184477/Imunizacao-da-Madeira-Rolica-do-Eucalipto (in Portuguese)

Images about Eucalyptus small diameter roundwood used by the civil construction industry, including websites of vendors and producers, as merely technical references purposes:

Some websites of Eucalyptus small diameter roundwood producers are presented ahead just to inform about products with technical illustrations, and therefore should not be considered as commercial recommendations.

http://www.arkomadeiras.com.br/produtos.php (Eucalyptus products. Arko Madeiras)
http://www.arterust.com.br/index2.html (Products. Arterust)
http://www.brinquepark.com.br/produtos/?album=1&gallery=2 (Products. Brinque Park)
http://www.buritimadeiras.com.br/index.php?pg=produtos&categ=basic_pontaletes (Buriti Madeiras)
http://casadamadeirams.com.br/detalheProduto.php?cod_produto=655 (Eucalyptus anchors. Casa da Madeira)
http://www.duronmadeiras.com.br/?link=produtos (Products - Duron Madeiras)
http://www.flaviense.com.br/escoras-de-eucalipto-c-3m-de-5-a-7-esp.html (Eucalyptus anchors. Flaviense)
http://www.madeireiraitaipu.com/fotos.php (Madeireira Iraitaipu)
http://www.mcapivaras.com.br/produtos/estruturamentos (Wood structures. Madeireira Capivaras)
http://www.megaps.com.br/produtos (Anchoring. Megaps)
http://www.postesmariani.com.br/construcao.php?menu=produtos (Products. Postes Mariani)
http://www.quebarato.com.br/parque-de-madeira-rolica__1427CE.html (Roundwood constructions)
http://www.quebarato.com.br/parques-de-eucalipto__1C8A6B.html (Roudwood constructions. Que barato)
http://www.serf.com.br/anuncio.php?id=25 (Eucalyptus anchors. Serf Florestal)
http://toraforte.com.br/produtos.asp (Products. Tora Forte)
http://uberlandia.olx.com.br/madeira-de-eucalipto-para-escoramento-iid-12533482 (Eucalyptus anchoring. Madeireira Nova Era)
http://www.google.com.br/images?um=1&hl=pt-br&rlz=1I7RNTN_pt-BR&tbs
=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=Pontaletes+eucalipto&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= (Eucalyptus roundwood. Google Images)
http://www.google.com.br/images?q=%22madeira+roli%C3%
A7a%22+eucalipto&um=1&hl=pt-br&rlz=1I7RNTN_pt-BR&tbs
=isch:1&ei=tlriTLisJIO88gb3q-yEDw&sa=N&start=20&ndsp=20 (Eucalyptus anchors. Google Images)
http://www.google.com.br/images?um=1&hl=pt-br&rlz=1I7RNTN
_pt-BR&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=escoras+eucalipto&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= (Eucalyptus anchors. Google Images - in Portuguese)

The so often referred in the literature as capital/labor relations have been seen as potential source of conflicts and controversies. This type of management has always been and remains a key challenge for top managers. The ways to conciliate the interests of businesses and their workers and the communities close to where the companies operate, are things no longer typically of inner corporate management to become something much broader, involving the now-called "stakeholders from society". The issues that in the past could be managed in a way "locked, straight and in-house", today have a much wider scope and even global. Times have changed, companies also; people, even more.

Linked to this, there are two important topics often neglected by managers and by workers operating the vast majority of our pulp and paper mills. The first of them is that companies are not magical and aliens entities, who possess magic wands. After all, the companies are no more than the result of people, who are there as a team to operate and manage them. If we have persons in the company who are motivated, happy and determined, there is a huge chance that this specific company be classified as a enterprise of the "plus world", in which its way of acting is to build, grow and to have positive examples of social management. On the other hand, if the company people have fear, unhappiness, worries and adverse interpersonal relationships, it will surely be a company which will focus on aspects of the "minus world", in which the typical characteristics are lacks of confidence, motivation, growth and opportunities. As a result, the company will have to worry about surviving than in developing itself, showing inappropriate policies with regard to people management and to its relations with communities.

The second point I would like to emphasize is that pulp and paper industrial mills are vectors for changes and strongly influence the communities where they operate, regardless the company size and the kind of community. This happens because the size of these companies, even those considered medium or small, is sufficiently large to leverage many businesses at their sites of influence. Therefore, companies and people are always and intimately related, either inside or outside the pulp and paper mills.

For centuries, most of industrial companies have not had a major concern in evaluating or leveraging their social performance. They had the belief to be important generators of employment and they were paying high amounts of money as taxes: these points were seen as their important social and community contributions. Maybe, I'm being a little unfair to set things in this direct way - they were past times and past realities, and will never not come back again. At those not so distant times, inadequate management of persons or interpersonal relationships sometimes were drivers for localized impacts to society, and restricted to the surroundings of the company. The pulp and paper companies had local performance, usually in locations away from large urban areas. They had, as consequence, restricted global projection. Here again the world has changed. The industry has gone global - the pulp and paper industry was converted into a global business. At this globalized industry, we have companies displaying images of "highly admired by society" and others with the status of "rejected" (in a few cases, a well deserved position - up to the fact that "the voice of people is the voice of God").

Past times, the interested parties were few and from a local community; today they are global and numerous. The huge expansion of communications exposes companies to the world, and very rapidly. Any inappropriate action of a company no longer gets just some headlines in the local newspaper or in the local radio, but it goes to the cyber world, to television, social networks, etc. Also, the positive actions may become more visible, but as it is human beings characteristic, the bad news, gossips and scandals are the preferred news. We say that the media has such preference, but in fact are the users of the media who prefer this type of news. They are only served in their wishes by the media.

The past two decades have been the cradle for great changes in the ways of business management. Many were the drivers to cause these changes so fast, but the need to show a positive company image to the public, inside and outside the company was one of them. In the late 80's, the management focus shifted to the quality of processes and products; then switched to the management of occupational safety and environmental issues in order to minimize mills impacts on Nature. Soon, it included quality of life of workers in integrated management systems, demanding indicators of health and safety, professional and human development, technical careers, people expectations, etc. In the next step, the community's area of influence of the company gained room to be assessed and monitored for people's quality of life and their perceptions of the company performance. These themes were finally incorporated by modern managers, who understand now that good business results are achieved when the company has an efficient management of the company's and communities' people. Several academic theses and the thoughts of great management gurus in their worldwide known best-sellers have become fashion for at least the past 20 years.

Many companies proudly write in their corporate policies that their employees are their greatest assets and that are they who "cause the differences" on business performance. Even the words changed to define the company's people: first it was worker, then employee, after that cooperator, and now travels between human talent, social capital, intellectual capital and other terms that the gurus invent to sell more and better their ideas and books. Expect a little more -there are other terms in the nursery of these fancy words to define exactly the same thing: people.

More recently, in early 2000, even a new terminology and science was born so inconceivably fast, the "Corporate Social Responsibility". This sequence of words was soon linked to another very strong word of the moment - sustainability. With all these issues growing and moving as a top ranked hurricane, each company now is trying to "show good results to their stakeholders". As a consequence, they were emerged and created the environmental reports, social performance reports, sustainability reports, etc. A huge flow of information is now being required, and showing data with a lot of credibility to avoid "shooting the own foot".

The companies now have to show a clean, healthy, safe, legal, efficient, accountable, innovative and sustainable image. How to place all these data in an well-understandable way to the different types of interested parties was another huge challenge to overcome. The previously isolated financial reports soon were integrated with environmental and social data, coming to be turned into well-prepared and magnificent sustainability reports. In general, these reports tend to show the environmental, social and economic accomplishments, achievements and commitments of the corporations. Even the strategic goals in environmental and social issues came to be shared with society. Some companies even set up "forums for dialogue with stakeholders", an unusual audacity just a very few years ago - but that proved to be very useful for managers for ripening the interpersonal relationship with community's people.

Definitely, we have to admire the competence that many of these sustainability reports show - they have to meet various stakeholders' wishes such as tax authorities, bankers, customers, suppliers, regulators, politicians, educators, reporters, employees, unions, neighbors and other representative elements from society, etc. In the past, an annual financial report from any business was something intended to comply with demands from federal income tax auditors and controllers of the company's capital (shareholders and funding sources). It was printed in a few tens of copies and openly published in newspapers, to anyone to read - just a legal requirement for transparency. Therefore, there was not any aesthetic beauty and the writing and language was something just understandable by those knowledgeable in finance.

Today, things became extremely different: a sustainability report must be written at least in two languages (English and local language - some are written in Mandarin, too), they must be attractive, beautiful due to the wonderful and artistic photos; must also be written to be understood by any of the thousands or millions of readers who will download the report to their computers via the web. Also, it needs to demonstrate credibility about anything is written and the measurement data must come from reliable sources. What was once something done for the shareholders, bankers and tax authorities, today must meet the global world demands, being even available to competitors and opponents.

All this has had a meteoric rise. In the early 1990's, the society became interested in the environmental performance of companies even before the launching of ISO 14,000 series of environmental standards. The companies responded to this demand through preparing the first type of environmental reports and other types of printed reports showing environmental, social activities, safety and occupational health issues, etc. There was not at the time the dissemination of information over the web, since the Internet was in the pre-embryo age. Everything was done in small richly illustrated booklets. The 14,000 series of standards themselves did not even state guidelines on how to deal with this new and huge demand for information to be given to society. The social background emerged with the entry into force of OHSAS 18000, which were intended for occupational health and safety of people working in the companies. At that time, the parameters were simple to report, such as accidents, lost time due to accidents, and some environmental indicators as water & air emissions and solid wastes generation. Nothing difficult for those who had to control these issues in the mills, even considering that at the time had appeared in the market some fancy software tools to help the production of nice graphs, charts and tables. The famous pie charts, Pareto, trend curves, etc. astonished the readers of such reports; readers who until a few years ago were used to know the mills for their smell, noise, and the texts of unintelligible financial statements published in newspapers.

When demands increased from the social stakeholders, it became very difficult to find indicators to monitor and to inform the world about. Stakeholders comprise the inside mill workers (very eager for details, because until a few days ago their sources for reporting and information were very limited) and people in the global society. This is the great challenge to overcome: who are the interested parties and what to show to them? ... and how to do this? Enormous reports are not recommended - luckily, today the Internet allows us with interactive and personalized browsing. People, who had nothing to relate with the company, often located far away in other continents, have now concerns about our mill performances and socio-environmental issues are sometimes difficult to be explained - a new world of challenges.

The big difference between the indicators of productivity or of environmental performance with social indicators is that the latter include not only numerical data but also emotional components and perceptions. As a result, some insights may dramatically affect certain indicators, often with abrupt changes as a function of relevant facts. Also, another heavy influence on these indicators is the way by which people (inside and outside the company), and who are in search of happiness and quality of life, can be impacted by the corporate management.

How to generate indicators to evaluate material and immaterial things related to social aspects of the business and then to share them efficiently to the global society? I think one of the major problems that prevent a more rapid advance in this area is exactly the model of business management, said to be modernized, but that still carries a lot of contamination's and defects of previous styles of management. Most executives are self-declared as participatives and open-minded, focused on social welfare and the quality of life of the human resources in the company and in the region. However, at any "stomach ache" in the mills or in company's results, they forget it all and come to act with perverse social management styles. They come to practice a management model that is understood as a "bunch of evil actions" to the own internal human resources, which were previously called human capital or intellectual assets of the company. The proof of this are the thousands of examples of social damages that are reported in light of recent international financial crisis of the years 2008/2009. With that, the workers suffer, suffers the community and the public relations get in conflict. Also, the social indicators get worse.

I think a lot of these problems could best be solved through a higher level of open and frank dialogue between business managers and stakeholders from the company and from society. Learning this fact, it makes easier to share and explain some tough decisions and, thus, to relieve pressure on the managers themselves.

The difficulties to show socially relevant facts to stakeholders are so great that some companies merely provide numeric data for paid taxes, investments in training and qualification of personnel, data on safety and availability of benefits to workers, such those with food, pension, transportation, etc. When just this is done, people who read these reports definitely are not fully satisfied, because in their view, and rightly so, most of these data are not clarifying and demonstrating the social performance of the company, because:

• the paid taxes by companies are business obligations and companies are always speaking out against this issue in the media. Also, everyone in society knows that the greater the amount of paid taxes, the greater is the turnover, the result and the earnings of the company.
• investments in safety are made to meet legal labor requirements, besides taking into account the thousands of academic and technical information demonstrating the high costs for companies when safety fails in operations.
• investment in training and education inside the company are seen as requirements for workers to qualify them for best professional performance and therefore resulting in more for the business.

This type of clashes between business vision and perceptions of society offered the opportunity for new types of social indicators to be created for better acceptance and understanding by stakeholders. Virtually, a new science was born from this. There are thousands of academic theses on social reports, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance - many of them available on the web. Very simply, these theories demonstrate that the actions of a healthy and growing company impact and leverage improvements to both internal human resources, as in the communities where it operates. Often, they affect the quality of life of people very far away and even knowledgeable of the company/business existence.

Once again, we fall into the famous questions: how to measure it all? how to turn this universe of information into simple indicators? how to give credibility to them? how to disseminate them? how to give and receive feedback about them?

Some social indicators are not numbers, but depend on the perceptions of the stakeholders. Some companies have already became aware of this through the so called "organizational climate surveys". They have also noticed that "the power of the company" may affect the workers' responses, which is very common in the researches about the internal climate. People with fear of reprimands end up not being completely honest. Management often believes that all is going well according to those surveys, when in fact things are far from this. Every time we have emotions and perceptions involved, it is better to outsource the interviews to prevent undesirable people inhibitions during data collecting.

I have noticed a trend to the creation of social indicators based on multi criteria and they are very interesting. Thus, they help company managers to understand the company's participation as a vector for social development and improved quality of life for people in its area of influence. There are several institutes, some business leaders have even helped to set up that are contributing for the generation of very credible social indicators. Among them, we may mention, in Brazil, the Ethos Institute and iBase - Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses (a creation from the renowned sociologist Betinho - Mr. Herbert de Souza). In general, several of these indicators are the same used by the governments and the United Nations bodies to measure social progress in countries, regions and municipalities, as the case of HDI - Human Development Index and SDI - Social Development Index. They seek to identify and select reliable metrics for important issues of quality of life, such as education, longevity of people, income and wages, health, skills and education, personal development, comfort, sanitation, infrastructure, available services to persons, etc.

The companies have divided their social indicators in three basic types:

• Internal social indicators: those that the company uses to assess its social performance in relation to its direct workers and contractors. Examples include: education and training, occupational safety and health, food, transportation, average salary, benefits, pension plans, etc. More recently, companies have included some selected items of their organizational climate surveys and also the actions of volunteering programs developed with their human resources.
• External social indicators: the indicators that are linked to actions with community and results of external programs maintained by the company in terms of: the practice of citizenship, social inclusion, environmental education, achieved awards, inclusion on lists of the most admired companies or the best companies to work for in the region, etc.
• Social indicators resulting from the company's presence in the region: here are included: the paid taxes, supports in infrastructure and sanitation's, educational programs, technological development activities, investment in public services through partnerships with public organizations, etc.

There are already well-established and proposed metrics to measure almost all of these indicators. Some were released by the mentioned institutes and others by the standards of corporate social responsibility to indicate the items that must be addressed by the companies. It is very important to have a standardized methodology to allow comparisons to understand the evolution of the company itself and for making comparisons among different companies (benchmarking corporate social indicators).

Some social indicators that they are commonly included in corporate social reports are:

• participative management: dialogue, respect for individual people, workers participation on internal forums of debates, etc.;
• dialogue and relationship with the external community;
• relationships with employees and contractors;
• relationships with unions;
• absence of inadequate and non-decent job types: child labor, forced labor and/or similar to slave labor, etc.;
• employee profile: diversity in age, educational level, gender, race, etc.;
• compliance with relevant legislation: social, labor, tax, environmental, etc.;
• profile of wages with respect to the region or sector;
• care with quality of life and work conditions of employees and contractors: safety, organizational health, daycare for children, gymnastics academies, feeding at company, transportation to work, workplace quality, etc.;
• company commitment in the face of layoffs: percentage of layoffs, support to the fired worker, psychological preparation, etc.;
• preparation for people retirement: psychological preparation, complementary pension, etc.;
• investments in items of labor meaning in relation to total payroll: workers' training and education, safety operations, etc.;
• responsibility towards future generations and sustainability: issues related to environmental impacts, environmental management system, forest certification, environmental education, culture and regional traditionalism, etc.;
• evidence of commitments to regional social sustainability: generation of jobs, local purchases, partnerships with local suppliers and rural farmers, etc.;
• economic value added to the local economy, identifying the total amount: how much, what and for whom the resources have been distributed;
• "social investments" in percentage of company's sales or operating income: paid taxes , investments in social projects and actions oriented to citizenship (fighting hunger, health and public education, etc.);
• selected items from institutional image survey (external perceptions);
• selected items from organizational climate survey (internal perceptions);
• etc., etc.

Virtually, most of these data are presented in the social balance sheets making part of corporate sustainability reports. However, it should be very clear that the indicators are not indexes to be just displaced to society and nothing else. In their inner conception, social reports are not merely a presentation of accounts to stakeholders. They are valuable management tools with the aim of helping the company to successfully perform the social part of its mission. They show trends, demonstrate and promote strategies and reinforce the management commitments.

Many of these indicators have the objective to present how the company fulfills its social function, with actions, strategies and investments. Others, show stakeholders perceptions, such as insights from the organizational climate surveys, or trademark or image public strengths. However, I miss an indicator that could be both internal and external, and that is not yet part of the current listing of social indicators, neither demanded by specialized institutes nor by the great gurus of corporate social responsibility. I refer to an index for measuring people happiness. When we succeed to have the courage to measure and monitor this; when we manage to show why people are more or less happier inside and outside the fences of the company, depending on the management performance; when we feel our importance to bring in and to disseminate happiness and satisfaction in people who are part of our team and relationships; we will have achieved perhaps the ultimate of all indicators of management and social performance. After all, happiness is the ultimate of the human beings goals. Does an indicator for happiness would be so hard to be created? Or to be practiced?

References of literature and suggestions for reading:

IDH - Indice de Desenvolvimento Humano. (HDI - Human Development Index). Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index (in English)

Atlas do Desenvolvimento Humano. (Human Development Atlas). PNUD Brasil. UNDP - United Nations Development Program. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.pnud.org.br/atlas (in Portuguese)

Indicadores Ethos de responsabilidade social empresarial. (Ethos Institute indicators for corporate social responsibility). Ethos Institute. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.ethos.org.br/docs/conceitos_praticas/indicadores/default.asp (Ethos Institute indicators - in Portuguese)
http://www.uniethos.org.br/docs/
conceitos_praticas/indicadores/download/ (Documents about Ethos indicators - in Portuguese)
http://www.uniethos.org.br/docs/
conceitos_praticas/indicadores/questionario/papel_celulose.pdf (Indicators for the pulp and paper sector - in Portuguese)

Responsabilidade social empresarial: o que o consumidor consciente espera das empresas. (Corporate social responsibility: what consumers expect from conscious companies). Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.akatu.org.br/akatu_acao/publicacoes/responsabilidade-social-empresarial/
responsabilidade-social-empresarial-o-que-o-consumidor-consciente-espera-das-empresas (in Portuguese)

Balanco social iBase. (iBase social balance). Ibase - Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses. 02 pp. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.balancosocial.org.br/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm (in Portuguese)

Programa Brasileiro de Certificacao em Responsabilidade Social. (Brazilian Program on Social Responsibility Certification). INMETRO - National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.inmetro.gov.br/qualidade/responsabilidade_social/programa_certificacao.asp (in Portuguese)

A norma ABNT/NBR 16001: 2004. (The ABNT/NBR 16001: 2004 standard). INMETRO - National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.inmetro.gov.br/qualidade/responsabilidade_social/norma_nacional.asp (in Portuguese)

ISO 26000. Norma internacional de responsabilidade social. (ISO 26000. International standard for social responsibility). Ethos Institute. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.ethos.org.br/ISO26000/ (in Portuguese)

ISO 26000. Social Responsibility. ISO - International Organization for Standardization. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_
and_leadership_standards/social_responsibility.htm (in English)

Responsabilidade social SA 8000. (SA 8000. Social responsibility). Available at Suzano Papel e Celulose website. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.suzano.com.br/portal/lumis/portal/file/
fileDownload.jsp?fileId=2C90884B2430357701246D2418204A34 (in Portuguese)
http://www.suzano.com.br/portal/lumis/portal/file/
fileDownload.jsp?fileId=2C90884B22502197012338E20A8E5077 (SA 8000 guidebook - in Portuguese)

NBR 18001:2010 - os requisitos para um sistema de gestao de saude e seguranca ocupacional. (NBR 18001:2010 - the requirements for a management system on occupational health and safety). H.R. Prado Filho. Qualidade Online. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://qualidadeonline.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/nbr
-18801-%E2%80%93-os-requisitos-para-um-sistema-de-
gestao-de-saude-e-seguranca-ocupacional/ (in Portuguese)

Praticas e perspectivas da responsabilidade social empresarial no Brasil – 2008. (Practices and perspectives of corporate social responsibility in Brazil - 2008). Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.akatu.org.br/akatu_acao/publicacoes/responsabilidade-social
-empresarial/relatorio-praticas-e-perspectivas-da-responsabilidade-social-empresarial-no-brasil-2013-2008 (in Portuguese)

Responsabilidade socioambiental das empresas do setor de celulose e papel. (Socio-environmental responsibility of the Brazilian pulp and paper companies). BRACELPA - Brazilian Association of Pulp and Paper. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.bracelpa.org.br/bra/social/relatorio/index.html
http://www.bracelpa.org.br/bra/social/relatorio/pdf/01.pdf (2006 Report - 09 pp - in Portuguese)
http://www.bracelpa.org.br/bra/social/relatorio05/socioambiental.pdf (2005 Report - 08 pp - in Portuguese)

IDH - Indice de Desenvolvimento Humano. Crescimento do IDH em municipios com atividade florestal significativa. (HDI- Human Development Index. HDI growth in municipalities with significant plantation forestry activity). In: "Florestas plantadas: um caminho para o desenvolvimento sustentavel. (Planted forests: a road to the sustainable development). p. 17. AMS - Minas Gerais Association of Silviculture. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://silviminas.com.br/Publicacao/Arquivos/publicacao_492.pdf (in Portuguese)

Fortune world's most admired companies. Fortune magazine. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2010/ (in English)

Melhores empresas para voce trabalhar. (Best companies you should work for). Voce S.A. Magazine - Exame. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.150melhoresempresas.com.br/ (in Portuguese)

Humanizando nossas empresas. (Humanizing our companies). C. Foelkel. Grau Celsius. 04 pp. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/68%20final.doc (in Portuguese)

Vamos colocar felicidade no nosso trabalho? (Let's place happiness in our work?). C. Foelkel. Grau Celsius. 03 pp. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/58%20final.doc (in Portuguese)

Empresas e pessoas mais felizes. (Happier companies and happier people). C. Foelkel. Grau Celsius. 04 pp. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/55%20final.doc (in Portuguese)

Entendendo o que esta por tras na logica do comportamento dos executivos do setor. (Understanding what is behind the logic of behavior of the forest sector executives). C. Foelkel. Grau Celsius. 05 pp. Accessed on 15.12.2010:
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/66%20final.doc (in Portuguese)

Evidenciacao do balanco social: um estudo de caso da Suzano Papel e Celulose no periodo compreendido entre 2005 a 2009. (Disclosure of the social balance: a case study of Suzano Papel e Celulose for the period from 2005 to 2009). G.C. Marcolino; G.G. Catallino; L.S. Itelvino; C. Ramacciotti; M.A. Bertachini. International Congress on Socio-Environmental Responsibility. 15 pp. (2010)
http://www.isapg.com.br/2010/cirss/download.php?id=8009 (in Portuguese)

Monitoramento de custos e do passivo socio-ambiental: uma proposta de arquitetura de dados de sustentabilidade. (Monitoring costs and socio-environmental liability: a proposed architecture of sustainability data).T. Tachizawa. ABCustos Volume 91. 24 pp. (2010)
http://www.unisinos.br/abcustos/_pdf/162.pdf (in Portuguese)

A responsabilidade social do setor de papel e celulose no Brasil. (The social responsibility of the Brazilian pulp and paper sector). H.P. Silva; C.L. Silva. II Sustainability Seminar. FAE University Center. 16 pp. (2007)
http://www.fae.edu/publicacoes/pdf/IIseminario/pdf_praticas/praticas_16.pdf (in Portuguese)

A certificacao florestal como um instrumento de responsabilidade social empresarial. (Forest certification as a tool of corporate social responsibility). R. Borsato; A.B.C. Faria. II Sustainability Seminar. FAE University Center. 11 pp. (2007)
http://www.fae.edu/publicacoes/pdf/IIseminario/pdf_praticas/praticas_23.pdf (in Portuguese)

A gestao estrategica da qualidade de vida no trabalho. (Strategic management of life quality at workplace). A.Z.F.C. Nishimura; E.E. Spers; A.C. Giuliani. II Sustainability Seminar. FAE University Center. 11 pp. (2007)
http://www.fae.edu/publicacoes/pdf/IIseminario/pdf_praticas/praticas_03.pdf (in Portuguese)

Responsabilidade social empresarial. (Corporate social responsibility). CNI - National Industry Confederation. 64 pp. (2006)
http://www.bracelpa.org.br/bra/social/empresarial/cni.pdf (in Portuguese)

Das arvores aos lares. A geracao de renda, emprego, divisas e impostos da cadeia produtiva da Aracruz Celulose. (From trees to homes. Generating income, jobs, exports, and taxes in Aracruz Celulose supply chain). FGV - Getulio Vargas Foundation. 52 pp. (2006)
http://www.aracruz.com.br/pdf/arquivofgv.pdf (in Portuguese)

From trees to homes. Generating income, jobs, exports, and taxes in Aracruz Celulose supply chain. FGV - Getulio Vargas Foundation. 52 pp. (2006)
http://www.aracruz.com.br/pdf/arquivofgveng.pdf (in English)

Analise do balanco social das empresas de papel e celulose. (Social balance analysis for the pulp and paper companies). P.Y.A. Morimoto; M.J.C.M. Zen. XLIV SOBER Congress - Brazilian Society of Rural Economics and Sociology. 13 pp. (2006)
http://www.sober.org.br/palestra/5/587.pdf (in Portuguese)

Investimento socialmente responsavel. (Socially responsible investment). R.S. Gonzales. APIMEC/CORECONSP. PowerPoint presentation: 37 slides. (2006)
http://www.coreconsp.org.br/download/investsocresp.pdf (in Portuguese)

Responsabilidade social na Veracel Celulose. (Social responsability at Veracel Celulose). Social Observatory Institute. 146 pp. (2005)
http://sask-fi-bin.directo.fi/@Bin/2da4e44515f1476bdbe
5043036b4533a/1292439687/application/pdf/112775/VeracelRelRS_jul2005vfr.pdf (in Portuguese)

Indicadores para diagnostico, monitoramento e avaliacao de programas sociais no Brasil. (Indicators for diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation of social programs in Brazil). P.M. Jaccuzzi. Revista do Servico Publico 56(2): 137-160. (2005)
http://www.conei.sp.gov.br/ind/ind-sociais-revista-serv-publico.pdf (in Portuguese)

Balanco social: uma analise das empresas do estado do Espirito Santo. (Social balance: an analysis of companies from the state of Espirito Santo). M.A. Pires. Course Completion Monograph. Federal Unversity of Espirito Santo. 92 pp. (2002)
http://www.fucape.br/_admin/upload/prod_cientifica/Mirian_albert.pdf (in Portuguese)

Monitoramento de florestas plantadas no Brasil: indicadores sociais e economicos. (Monitoring of planted forests in Brazil: socio-economic indicators). L.C.E Rodriguez. IPEF Technical Series 12(31): 22-32. (1998)
http://www.ipef.br/publicacoes/stecnica/nr31/cap2.pdf (in Portuguese)

Percepcao pelo publico interno acerca dos sistemas de gestao ISO 9002 e ISO 14001 na Riocell. (Perception by the internal public/stakeholders about the ISO 9002 and ISO 14001 management systems in Riocell). C. Zimmer; C.C. Bitencourt; C. Foelkel. 30th ABTCP Annual Congress - Brazilian Technical Association of Pulp and Paper. 17 pp. (1997)
http://www.celso-foelkel.com.br/artigos/ABTCP/1997.%20
percep%E7%E3o%20sistemas%20iso%20riocell.pdf (in Portuguese)

Social Balance Reports presented by some pulp and paper companies (and for some of their socio-environmental institutes):
Most of them are in Portuguese or Spanish and English:

Cenibra: http://www.cenibra.com.br/cenibra/english/InstitutoCenibra/Instituto
Cenibra.aspx?&codigo=divFilhos8.7&familia=8&nivel=2&item=1

Eco Futuro Institute: http://www.ecofuturo.org.br/userfiles/
Balanço%20Social%202009%20v13web.pdf

Fibria: http://www.fibria.com.br/web/pt/pessoas/gestao.htm

Irani: http://www.irani.com.br/midia/pdf/4balancosocialwebpdf.pdf e
http://www.irani.com.br/estrutura.php?id=53

Kimberly Clark Brasil: http://www.kimberly-clark.com.br/_pdfs/balanco_kimberly2006.pdf

Klabin: http://www.klabin.com.br/en-us/responsabilidadeSocial/default.aspx

Orsa group: http://www.relatorioweb.com.br/orsa/?q=pt-br/node/16

Paraibuna: http://www.paraibuna.com.br/bsocial.pdf

SPP-Nemo: http://www.spp-nemo.com.br/principal.cfm?tela=servicos

Recent Sustainability Reports published by some pulp and paper companies showing also their social accomplishments:
Most of them are in Portuguese or Spanish and English:

Bahia Specialty Cellulose: http://www.bahiaspeccell.com/shared/en_relatoriodesustentabilidade.pdf

Cenibra: http://www.cenibra.com.br/cenibra/Relatorio%20Web/www/default.html

CMPC Chile group: http://www.cmpc.cl/interior.aspx?cid=223&leng=es

Fibria: http://www.fibria.com.br/rs2009/shared/rs2009_en_031110.pdf

Irani: http://www.irani.com.br/estrutura.php?id=124

Klabin: http://www.klabin.com.br/rs2009/en/index.shtml

Orsa group: http://www.relatorioweb.com.br/orsa/?q=en

Portucel Soporcel group: http://www.portucelsoporcel.com/en/group/sustainability-report.php

Suzano: http://www.suzano.com.br/portal/main.jsp?lumItemId=
2C9080C91C0580D8011C0EE2FCAC47A8&lumPageId=
2C9080C91BEC59A7011BECC2C3DF2A75