Operaciones circulares y eficientes
La economía circular busca maximizar el valor de los recursos mientras minimiza el desperdicio y los impactos ambientales. En este modelo, los productos son proyectados para ser durables, reparables y reciclables, incentivando la reutilización y el reciclaje de materiales. En vez de seguir el tradicional modelo lineal de producción y consumo, en que los productos son fabricados, usados y descartados, la economía circular promueve la idea de un ciclo continuo, donde los materiales son mantenidos en uso por el mayor tiempo posible.
Ese abordaje no solamente contribuye a la conservación de los recursos naturales, sino que también estimula la innovación, la creación de empleos y el crecimiento económico sustentable, tornándose esencial para enfrentar los desafíos globales de hoy, como los cambios climáticos y la escasez de recursos.
Consolidando el compromiso WEG, poseemos certificaciones ISO 14.001 demostrando la gestión ambiental en las operaciones de la empresa.
Programas & Prácticas
Residuos y energía
Residuos Sólidos
WEG tiene un sistema de recolección selectiva de residuos en sus operaciones. De esa forma, los residuos son separados y enviados a los recicladores de cada uno de los materiales, posibilitando así su valorización y la reintroducción de los materiales en los más diversos ciclos productivos. Es importante enfatizar que parte de los residuos generados en las operaciones son reciclados por la propia WEG, retornando así al proceso y haciendo parte de sus productos. Todos los residuos son enviados a empresas ambientalmente responsables, seleccionadas y desarrolladas por el equipo de gestión ambiental de WEG.
Energía
WEG cuenta con la Política de Eficiencia Energética, desde 2012, en la cual demuestra su compromiso con la gestión de ese insumo. Esa política es desdoblada en acciones para el monitoreo y la reducción del consumo de energía, lo que contribuye a la mejora del medio ambiente. WEG pretende tornar, cada vez más, sus fuentes de energía más limpias, renovables y sustentables.
Agua, efluentes y recursos hídricos
WEG monitorea el consumo de agua de sus operaciones y tiene diversos controles operacionales que garantizan una gestión eficiente sobre ese recurso, evitando así el desperdicio y promoviendo un consumo consciente. Todos los efluentes generados en las operaciones son debidamente tratados y periódicamente monitoreados, de forma de garantizar el cumplimiento de las legislaciones y la minimización de los impactos en los diferentes stakeholders.
Parte de los efluentes tratados en las operaciones son reutilizados en los procesos internos, donde algunas estaciones de tratamiento de efluentes posibilitan hasta 100% de reúso del efluente tratado. Adoptamos iniciativas focalizadas en la reducción del consumo de agua y de la generación de efluentes, a través del control de pérdidas, del monitoreo del consumo y del apoyo a los programas que involucran a todos los colaboradores a ese objetivo, como el KaizenWEG y el WEG Manufacturing System.
Inversiones y gastos en medio ambiente
Las inversiones ambientales son caracterizadas en tres categorías:
- Control ambiental: relacionado con el tratamiento y la disposición de residuos, tratamiento de emisiones atmosféricas y líquidas, seguros de responsabilidad ambiental y depreciación de equipos y gastos con materiales y servicios de mantenimiento.
- Equipos: relacionados a la adquisición de equipos para control ambiental.
- Gestión: relacionado a la remuneración de profesionales de capacitación que ejercen actividades de gestión ambiental, investigación y desarrollo, y a la certificación de sistemas de gestión ambiental.
Sustainable packaging and biodiversity preservation
We have a packaging factory, RF Reflorestadora, in Brazil. This unit produces all the wooden packaging used in our various product lines. To that end, we have our own reforestation areas that guarantee the continuous supply of wood and the preservation of this natural resource and areas of natural forests, legal reserves and permanent preservation areas that help in the preservation of the local biodiversity.
The areas comply with all legislation and legal requirements, including an area of conservation of native forests much larger than the minimum established for the legal reserve.
Furthermore, WEG promotes and supports conscious reforestation and nature conservation initiatives and invests in the afforestation of its industrial parks.
KaizenWEG
KaizenWEG was created in 2016 and is the heart of WEG's continuous improvement management system, the WMS, where all employees are encouraged to promote improvements in their work environment or in any other areas of the company, identifying waste, analyzing causes, and participating in multidisciplinary teams for problem solving.
As one of the pillars of the Company's Participative Management, since its creation more than 300,000 improvements have been implemented, bringing more safety, quality, and productivity, as well as making the work environment increasingly efficient and sustainable.
The collective pursuit of operational excellence and sustainability in a scenario of process verticalization makes participative management a key element in boosting WEG’s results.
Watch the video of the launch of the new KaizenWEG platform:
WMS (WEG Management System)
WEG's continuous improvement management system is WMS, whose main objective is to identify and eliminate losses and waste.
Results are maximized through safety, quality, cost and GHG (greenhouse gas) emission prioritization matrices, which guide the development of projects to optimize or eliminate such waste, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable world.
In addition to the optimization work fronts, multidisciplinary teams act as central points for continuous improvement, bringing innovations and disruptions to our processes.
One of these central points is the Environment and Energy pillar, which aims at and systematizes the reduction of environmental impacts, working to reduce or eliminate the generation of waste and emissions, the consumption of energy resources, chemical cleaning and inputs in general.
WEG Replacement Plan (Available only in Brazil)
Recycling is a serious subject for WEG, extended up to business. By means of the program for reusing electric motors, the “Exchange Plan”, the company has granted a discount on the purchase of a new motor with performance above the law requirements in exchange for a used one. Besides the financial benefit to the customers, the initiative ensures that the low-efficiency motor is no longer used. Once collected by the company, the motors are dismantled and separated into parts for distribution to accredited and tracked recyclers.
Benefits
Reduction of electric energy consumption
Reliability of the plant
Reduction of operating costs
Factory Warranty
Standard products - offer complete interchangeability with motors already installed
Item | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Products sold that can be reused or recycled* (%) – Weight basis | 68 | 73 | 65 | 70 |
Products that were actually reused or recycled by the company * (%) – Weight basis | 12 | 16 | 14 | 4 |
* It takes into account only the products placed and recalled in the Brazilian market
Investments in Environment
Environmental investments are classified into two categories:
Capital Investments: Refer to the acquisition of environmental control equipment.
Operating Expenses (R$): Refer to waste treatment and disposal, atmospheric and liquid emissions treatment, environmental liability insurance, and equipment depreciation, as well as expenses for materials and maintenance, as well as expenses for the compensation of personnel working in environmental management, research and development, and certification of environmental management systems.
Below is the amount invested in each category:
Item | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Capital Investments (R$) | 1,329,000 | 1,788,000 | 1,819,000 | 11,141,393 |
Operating Expenses (R$) | 14,684,000 | 17,753,000 | 23,509,000 | 33,605,910 |
| % of operations covered (%) | 70 | 70 | 70 | 89 |
Enviromental Certification
In 2024, considering the scope of employees, 70,8% of the WEG group was covered by ISO 14001 certification.
Click here to access the certificates
Environmental Audits
WEG has an environmental audit cycle process that covers all of its industrial operations.
In annual environmental audit process, WEG guarantees compliance with environmental legislation in all industrial operations.
Performance Indicators
In 2023, the scope of monitored units was expanded, including the company's business addresses. Thus, 100% of WEG's global addresses are now included in the indicators.
Energy
WEG has had an Energy Efficiency Policy since 2012, in which it shows its commitment to the management of this input. This policy develops actions to monitor and reduce energy consumption, which contributes to improving the environment. WEG intends to increasingly make its energy sources cleaner, renewable and sustainable.
Total energy consumption | Unit | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Total non-renewable energy consumption | MWh | 535,599 | 510,110 | 454,702 | 212,113 |
Total renewable energy consumption | MWh | 57,801 | 88,904 | 129,202 | 427,398 |
Total energy consumption (Non-Renewable + Renewable) | MWh | 593,400 | 599,014 | 583,904 | 639,511 |
Coverage data (%) | In relation to employees | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Renewable energy acquisition
In 2024, WEG ensured that 66.8% of energy consumption would come from renewable sources with guaranteed origin through self-production, purchase of renewable energy certificates (I-REC) and bilateral contracts.
Atmospheric emissions
WEG monitors atmospheric emissions related to volatile organic compounds. Below is the result of emissions related to equipment monitored in recent years.
Item | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Emissions of volatile organic compounds - VOC (t/year) | 93.5 | 135.2 | 114.5 | 139.3 | 191.3 | 241.3 |
coverage rate (%) | 56 | 56 | 56 | 61 | 72 | 61 |
Environmental Violations
One of WEG's top priorities is compliance with the environmental legislation applicable to its operations. In the last 4 years, there were no evidence of significative environmental fines applied to WEG businesses.
