Environmental Management System

Positively impacting the environment and being recognized for providing solutions that are not only profitable, but also sustainable, is one of the guiding principles of MRS business strategy. The Company has been proud to share, year after year, the evolution in the achievement of its environmental goals.

In this sense, MRS uses the Environmental Management System (EMS), which aims to ensure the adoption of best practices for the management its environmental programs, the control of environmental risks and the optimization of operating costs. Acting on a preventive basis, EMS informs the performance of processes, contributing to eliminate and minimize possible environmental impacts, reduce occurrences, proper training of employees, as well as to ensure higher assertiveness in the conduct of the environmental strategy and commitments assumed with the relevant bodies.

In 2022, the Company invested approximately R$ 18.5 million in activities, monitoring, projects and processes related to the environment.  Among the highlights are the Management Programs for Solid Waste, Liquid Effluents, Erosive Processes, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Management, the Environmental Education Programs (PEA – acronym in Portuguese), among others. 

During the year, MRS conducted its activities in full compliance with applicable standards and other requirements for the preservation of the environment, also fully complying with all environmental programs relating to the conditions of its Operating License for the railway network and the workshops. Proof of this was the unification of the operating licenses issued by IBAMA (acronym in Portuguese of Brazilian Institute of the Environment) to MRS for the activities of the railway network and workshops, including the units in Barra do Piraí (RJ), Santos (SP), Cubatão (SP) and Jundiaí (SP), and also including the maintenance workshops and assets in Belo Horizonte (MG), Jeceaba (MG), Conselheiro Lafaiete (MG) and the overall railway network, consolidating in a single license operation all the Company’s activities, optimizing the execution of the company’s environmental programs, thus allowing better management and synergy of environmental results and controls.

Other significant advance was in the development of a plural and efficient climate agenda. MRS expanded its inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, starting the process of inventorying other 3 categories of scope 3 (indirect emissions), also continuing with complete data on the scopes 1 (indirect emissions) and 2 (energy). Data were audited by an independent third party accredited by INMETRO.  As a result, the Company received the Gold Seal in the Brazilian GHG Protocol Program, developed by FGVces (Center for Sustainability Studies of Fundação Getúlio Vargas – acronym in Portuguese), proving its commitment to transparency in broad emissions data. Other important achievement was the upgrade from D to C in CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), which also showcases the evolution of the company’s climate agenda.

Environmental Education Programs

Regarding the Environmental Education Programs, the main objective is to enable and inform employees and sectors of society directly affected by the Company, through educational and participatory actions. Divided into two areas, one aimed at workers (Environmental Education Program for Workers – PEAT, in portuguese) and the other at the community (Environmental Education Program – PEA, in portuguese), the Company operates mainly in actions aimed at the activities of the Railway Network and Workshops.

Throughout 2022, MRS carried out more than 50 actions, campaigns and/or internal training with its employees aiming at raising awareness about themes related to the Environment and Sustainability, among them: Management and correct disposal of waste; Conscious consumption of natural resources and Reuse and Recycling; always seeking to correlate actions with situations experienced in the job routine.

For society, the more than 10 actions carried out were aimed at strengthening the relationship between the company and the communities, listening to their demands and working to mitigate the negative impacts caused. Topics such as: Railway Safety; Correct disposal of waste; Beware of domestic animals on the railway; Importance of the Environment and what actions MRS is carrying out to the face the impacts cause by Noise and Particulate Material, were presented to communities through lectures in schools, direct dialogues and door-to-door actions, with the delivery of printed material (folders and flyers).

Also in 2022, MRS conducted, in partnership with a specialized consultancy, the survey of climate risks and opportunities of its business, including physical and transition risks and following TCFD (Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures) methodology, aiming to diagnose the main risks associated with the Company’s rail yards, its customers’ loading terminals, asset maintenance workshops and fueling stations, as well as the measurement of climate risks and the continuity in the creation of a resilience agenda for the business, to mitigate the impacts that may occur.

For 2023, with the renewal of the Concession Agreement, Environment-related activities at MRS will become even more significant in the Company. As a result, the environmental area underwent a restructuring process aimed to strengthen its technical staff and enable better synergy between the themes that permeate environmental demands. This restructuring culminated in the creation of the Environment and Social Policies General Management, reporting directly to the Institutional Relations leadership.

Prevention and response to environmental occurrences

The Company has a current and public environmental emergency response plan and, with a focus on preventing and addressing situations of risk to the environment, it also has a robust program for preventing environmental occurrences, with detailed procedures for responding to emergencies. Using its own teams, periodic inspections are carried out, as well as daily dialogues and simulations, for constant training of employees. It also relies on its own resources, such as environmental emergency kits in strategic units, each containing more than 15 items, trailer sets that can be attached to different motor vehicles, which individually have more than 20 different parts, used in with a highly critical occurrences; and vehicle and cleaning kits for less severe occurrences.

MRS also works to encourage actions to prevent and respond to environmental emergencies in its value chain. The diesel supplier, one of the Company’s main inputs, which is also the operator and maintainer of the Company’s service stations, has current and updated risk management plans and an emergency response plan. A further example is the fact that all contractors for the execution of works are required to keep environmental emergency kits at the construction sites and all employees trained for emergencies. These requirements are included in the service provision agreement and in specific internal procedures for such suppliers.

Biodiversity

GRI 304-1, 304-3

As part of the railway network inserted in biodiversity protection regions, including two important Brazilian biomes (Atlantic Forest and Cerrado) and 17 Conservation Units (UCs  – acronym in Portuguese), MRS has a legal commitment and is aware that its social and environmental responsibility is to act in the mitigation and offsetting of the impacts caused by its operations on fauna and flora.

Through different environmental management programs, the Company contributes to minimizing and offsetting the impact of its operations on the environment. Whenever there is a need to perform works, MRS carries out all the necessary environmental studies, as well as obtaining all authorizations from environmental entities, ensuring the legality of works and mitigating/minimizing the environmental impacts inherent to the activity. The company makes annual plantings to offset its impacts in cutting trees and interventions in Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs  – acronym in Portuguese), activities duly legalized by the relevant entities, maintaining the areas for at least 36 months to ensure their full recovery.

MRS operates with a strong focus on prevention and performs continuous inspections at critical drainage points that may cause erosion processes on the railway in its right of way area. When necessary, it implements construction, adaptation and maintenance works. To this end, the Company has Environmental Liabilities Management and Erosive Processes Management Programs in place, which, among other functions, include maintenance of drainage systems, recovery of degraded areas, rehabilitation actions, maintenance and monitoring of recovered areas, ensuring the success of the actions.

The impacts arising from MRS intervention in APPs, during routine services and works on the railway network, are addressed by its proprietary offsetting program, the Offset Planting – Green Paths, which is a subprogram of the Flora Management Program. In 2022, seedlings native to the Atlantic Forest biome were planted in the municipalities of Juiz de Fora (MG) and Anhembi (SP), representing an area of 3.5 hectares. In parallel, MRS also invested in the maintenance of six areas recovered in previous years, in a total of 19.4 hectares, ensuring recovery efficiency.

Conservation Units crossed by MRS railway network

MRS operations located within environmental protection areas