Environment Week 2019: Petrobras Distribuidora’s campaing avoids the use of 1 million plastic cups in one year

At the Environment Week 2018, a challenge was raised for the workforce of the headquarters of Petrobras Distribuidora, an associate company of Aberje, in Rio de Janeiro: replacing the plastic cups used to drink water or coffee for glass or ceramic cups and mugs, brought from home. The results after one year show that the initiative paid off: 1 million plastic cups were no longer discarded in the garbage during this period.

Foto: Márcio Veltri

To mobilize and raise awareness of 2,800 employees and service providers who enter the building daily, piles of plastic cups collected in the building’s ninth floors in the previous weeks were left in the ground floor hall. “The view of the mountains of cups that were thrown away daily impacted and contributed to the initiative to cut of the use of this type of material,” says Gustavo Ferro, manager of Communication, Brands and Sustainability of Petrobras Distribuidora.

UPCYCLING – In the Environment Week 2019, the BRMania store installed in the headquarters building sold products made from the upcycling of promotional vests from the campaigns at the Petrobras gas stations and BR Aviation sites, as well as clothing scraps. They were eco bags and kits with straws and cleaners produced by community dwellers and prisoners from Rio de Janeiro trained by startup Karibu.

These initiatives are in line with several actions foreseen in the BR Sustainability Agenda, focusing on commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the socio-environmental impacts of the company’s business; in generating a positive impact on the mobility of people; expanding the use of renewable energy in business; promoting of conscious consumption and ethical and sustainable business environment; and establishing partnerships aimed at generating shared value.