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Forestry Management Plans from Brazilian Companies

(Documents in Portuguese)

The majority of the leading Brazilian forest-based companies have worked to achieve the status of Forestry Certification. Most of them have obtained this recognition, either by the Brazilian system of certification CERFLOR, or by the FSC - Forest Stewardship Council. A few have been certified by both systems. One of the requirements for certification is to have a well presented and implemented Forestry Management Plan. This plan has to become public and disseminated to the interested parties. Since the plans are freely available via internet, I'm offering the links to you visit some of them. They have valuable information, nice pictures and they offer very good and sound knowledge about the sustainable eucalyptus forestry management.

Aracruz: http://www.aracruz.com.br/pt/ambiente/amb_manejo.pdf

Cenibra: http://www.cenibra.com.br/cenibra/Capa.aspx (access the item Processo Florestal)

Duratex: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_duratex_port.pdf

Eucatex: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_eucatex5yr_port.pdf

Flosul: http://ww2.imaflora.org/arquivos/FLOSUL.pdf

International Paper do Brasil / Inpacel: http://internationalpaper.com.br/downloads/premios/resumo.pdf

Jari Florestal: http://scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_jari_port.pdf

Klabin Paraná: http://ww2.imaflora.org/arquivos/KLABINPR.pdf

Klabin Santa Catarina: http://ww2.imaflora.org/arquivos/KLABIN%20SC%20%2004.pdf

Orsa Florestal: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_orsaflorestal_port.pdf

Plantar: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_plantar_port.pdf

Rigesa: http://www.rigesa.com.br/resumoplanodemanejo/manejo_sistema.html

Rilisa / Ripasa: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_rilisa-ripasa_port.pdf

Satipel: http://www.satipel.com.br/pdf/Plano_de_Manejo.pdf

Suzano Bahia Sul: http://ww2.imaflora.org/arquivos/SUZANO%20BAHIA%20SUL_Mucuri.pdf

Veracel: http://www.veracel.com.br/pt/florestais/plano.pdf

Forestry Management Plans from Brazilian Companies

(documents in English)

Aracruz: http://www.aracruz.com.br/en/ambiente/e_amb_manejo.pdf

Cenibra: http://www.cenibra.com.br/cenibra/English/Capa.aspx (access the item Forest)

Duratex: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_duratex.pdf

Eucatex: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_eucatex_eng.pdf

Jari: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_jari_eng.pdf

Plantar: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_plantar_eng.pdf

Rilisa / Ripasa: http://www.scscertified.com/PDFS/forest_rilisa-repasa_eng.pdf

Veracel: http://www.veracel.com.br/web/en/florestais/manejo.html

Eucalyptus Species

There are hundreds of websites describing species of the genus Eucalyptus and Corymbia. Some few have been selected to you.

http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/004/ac121e/ac121e04.htm (in English)

http://www.ipef.br/identificacao/cief/lista.asp

http://www.ffp.csiro.au/nfm/mdp/bbproj/eucalypt.htm (in English)

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Myrtaceae/Eucalyptus.html (in English)

Costs, Profitability and Return on the Investments in Plantations

The most common questions about eucalyptus plantations are those related to costs, prices and return on the investments. People planting forests for commercial reasons are always anxious to know the potential gain they are expected to have. I've selectd several very good references on these topics. However, the reader must be aware that the issues related to costs, prices and profits have to be treated case-by-case, place-by-place and they varies moment-by-moment. It is important to learn how to deal with the figures and how to evaluate alternatives. These references are rich on offering these subjects.

http://revistacientifica.famec.com.br/ojs/viewarticle.php?id=5&layout=abstract

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rarv/v27n5/a11v27n5.pdf

http://www.dcf.ufla.br/cerne/revistav4n1-1998/art03.doc

http://www.mma.gov.br/estruturas/pnf/_arquivos/aracruz.pdf

http://www.ufsm.br/cienciaflorestal/artigos/v12n1/A13V12N1.pdf

http://www.cnpf.embrapa.br/servicos/publicacoes/gratuita/documentos/documentos.htm

http://www.cnpf.embrapa.br/servicos/publicacoes/gratuita/comunicados/comtec.htm

http://www.cnpf.embrapa.br/servicos/publicacoes/gratuita/circular/circular.htm

http://www.cepea.esalq.usp.br/florestal

http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11150/tde-15082003-150926/publico/vitor.pdf

http://www.ipef.br/publicacoes/ctecnica/nr141.pdf

http://www.dcf.ufla.br/cerne/Revistav10n2-2004/%5B7%5D%2029-02%20-%20Rota%C3%A7%C3%A3o%20econ%C3%B4mica%20de%20plantios%20-%20Thais%20C%20Ferreira.pdf

http://150.162.90.250/teses/PECV0320.pdf

http://www.ipef.br/publicacoes/scientia/nr60/cap03.pdf

http://www.gruponahise.com/simposio/papers%20pdf/6%20Morais-Filho,A.D.pdf

Essential Oils

Another issue very much questionned is the one about eucalyptus essential oils. This is very normal because people are always feeling, smelling and taking advantage on these oils in the daily life. The size of this market is huge, and there are still lots of potential for incresing it.

http://www.ipef.br/publicacoes/docflorestais/df17.pdf

http://www.fao.org/docrep/v5350e/v5350e07.htm (in English)

http://techdev.freeyellow.com/womp.html (in English)

General Issues

The websites presented in this item are more general, they offer broader information. The REMADE - Revista da Madeira virtual magazine is outstanding, and the ABRAFLOR (Brazilian Association of Planted Forests Producers) website has many generous information.

http://www.ipef.br/servicos/teses/arquivos/ferraro,mr.pdf

http://www.remade.com.br/revista/capa.php?edicao=75

http://www.abraflor.org.br/duvidas/mitos.asp

http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/bsantos/euctoc.htm#toc (The Eucalyptus of California - in English)

Physics, Anatomy and Chemistry of the Wood

There is no better place to remind these knowledges than in Dr. Umberto Klock's website. The technical hand-outs of these lectures in the Forestry Engineering course at the Federal University of Parana are definitively very clear and well-presented. Have a look on them.

http://www.madeira.ufpr.br/UmbertoKlock/quimica/notasdeaula.htm

http://www.madeira.ufpr.br/UmbertoKlock/intrtecnologia/notas_de_aulas.htm

http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/forest/pdf/2002/05/10.pdf?access=ok (in English)

Kraft Pulping

Several MS and PhD thesis, updated articles and good technical reviews are presented in the following links.

http://www.ipef.br/servicos/teses/arquivos/santos,sr.pdf

http://www.madeira.ufpr.br/UmbertoKlock/polpaepapel/notasdeaula.htm

http://www.celuloseonline.com.br/imagembank/Docs/DocBank/dc/dc085.pdf

http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11150/tde-06112003-135906/publico/fabio.pdf

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/jbchs/v15n4/a12v15n4.pdf (in English)

http://www.faenquil.br/symposium/Session3/02gomide.htm (in English)

http://ciadicyp.unam.edu.ar/trabajos/trabajos/pulpa_y_pulpados/Rodriguez-100-UCM-Esp.pdf (in Spanish)

Bleaching of the Eucalyptus Kraft Pulps

Pulp bleaching is for sure one of the areas with fastest growth in generation of papers and knowledge. Some oustanding and recent articles were selected for your reading.

http://www.celuloseonline.com.br/imagembank/Docs/DocBank/Eventos/SIII_4.pdf ( in English)

http://tappsa.co.za/archive/APPW2002/Title/The_evolution_in_Eucalyptus_pu/the_evolution_in_eucalyptus_pu.html (in English)

http://www.celuloseonline.com.br/imagembank/Docs/DocBank/dc/dc109.pdf (in English)

http://www.atcp.cl/Revistas/Agosto2004ArtTec-1.pdf (in Spanish)

Technical Mini Article by Celso Foelkel

Washing and Cleaning Eucalyptus Pulps

The pulp and paper sector is living today an unique technological moment, but this moment also brings some worries. At the same time that the environmental requirements are suggesting water mill closures, the demands for pulp and paper qualities are becoming stricter. Today, in a move in contrary to that it would be reasonable, the requirements are for cleaner, whiter and purer pulps and papers. The driving force for the "total white" has been the utilization of calcium carbonate as filler, associated with the alkaline sizing of the paper. In a whiter paper, dirt and contamination are more visible. The closures on water cycles are concentrating all sort of chemicals, from different sources and with different compositions. We are concentrating: resins, metal ions, starches, sizes, surfactants, hexenuronic acids, lignin fragments, etc., etc. Since the pulp to become whiter and brighter requires more oxidation stages, we are also promoting an increase on the chemical charges and in the level of carboxyl groups in the final bleached pulps. These charges make the fibers to act as an ion-exchange resin, adsorbing cations and polar compounds. The removal of these grafted compounds from the fibers are more and more difficult. In the past, we were used to have intense washing, without caring to the amount of water being used to do this. Today, this is no longer available: we are being forced to use more and more chemicals, one to counter-act the others. Chemicals are used to clean pitch, as biocides, as detergents, as retention aids, etc., etc. The chemical trash in the systems is raising dramatically. Extractions and purges of this garbage is fundamental, to preserve the pulp and paper qualities. The so difficult to achieve high pulp brightness may be reverted or the quality of final product lost because other kind of contamination. Dirt contaminants are becoming frequent, in different sizes, formats, and chemical constituents. In the past, dirt and brightness determinations were the most usual tests to evaluate pulp quality. Today, there are newcomers: pulp conductivity, colloidal pitch, iron and manganese content, etc., etc. This means: more requirements, more controls, more losses and more difficulties. From the past, we have the memories of the efficient chemical washing promoted by the chlorinating stage of pulp bleaching, and the intense washing, freely using water. These old and past memories may help to find new ways in the present. The chlorination stage was efficient because it was in reality a chemical acid washing of the metal ions, in a pH lower than 2. Immediately of this washing, a purge of the filtrate to the effluent was the case. At the same time, chlorination had a serious deleterious effect. It was able to transform some of the eucalyptus wood extractives in a sticky substance, known as pitch. Today, the intense washing with clean water is being replaced by counter-current washing with filtrates. The positions to add fresh and clean water are fewer. These positions have to be found and selected in our process with a lot of wisdom. Also, with wisdom we need to identify the places to purge the chemical trash from the system. The best positions to add fresh and clean water are those located at the end of the fiber-line. For example: in the manufacture of bleached marked pulp, the last pulp washing happens at the wet end of the pulp sheet forming machine. When the pH is slightly acid in such step ( 4-5 ), the washing is even more efficient. The filtrates or the white water from the pulp machine is clean and it is a completely recoverable water. Till now, I question myself the reason for that, in many mills, good and reasonable clean waters are blended with dirty and contaminated effluents. The result is known: all waters are transformed into dirty effluents to be discarded after expensive treatments. On the other hand, the acid stages in pulp process are becoming seldom. In some cases, we have an acid pre-stage in the bleaching line, and in most cases, we still have the chlorine dioxide stages. The Dhot stage has proved to be very important as a chemical washing step, doing a job similarly to the chlorination in this regard. For this reason, it is important to wisely identify its filtrate purge or the recycling of it. The utilization of sulfurous acid (SO2 water) is still very popular as a final bleaching step: the aims are to kill the residual chlorine dioxide, to remove cations adsorbed in the fibers and to better stabilize pulp brightness. SO2 is a reducing compound, as well-known. Today, to do similar job, the technology is searching for other alternatives, as the metabisulfite of sodium.

For me, the result of all this is very clear: we need to be more clever and wiser in the selection of our bleaching and washing stages, electing also the more efficient alternatives for purging and recycling the filtrates. We need to remind ourselves that in all cases, there are costs involved, and associated with our actions, the environmental impacts. In case of mismanagement or misjudgement, we are to damage the pulp quality, the environment, and the mill financial performance. All this situation brings some very curious and unexplained procedures. For example, when the last bleaching stage is a peroxide stage, it is common to wash the pulp with SO2 water after the stage. The peroxide stage is a high pH step (around 9.5) and the SO2 washing an acid one (pH around 5). Surprisingly, when the pulp goes to the paper manufacturing section, the pH is raised again to 8 – 8.5 with caustic soda for refining. The required and requested low conductivity is definitively lost, very soon, indeed. The explanation is clear: we are becoming slaves on the utilization of chemicals. It is a continuous addition, for everything and to control anything. I would like to ask the pulp and paper mill project engineers to remember that the water may be cleaned in different mini-water treatment plants in the mill. Use the water more wisely, discovering the most adequate use and treatment for each of your filtrates. I’m sure that this is more economical, and a lot more positive to the environment.

Finally, the other alternative would be the gradual reduction on the pulp brightness, whiteness and cleanliness specification for ordinary paper manufacturing. Well, this is another topic for another discussion: very controversial, surely.