Cleaner Production in the industries of extraction and processing of kaolin in Rio Grande do Norte
Mining. Non-renewable resource. Residue. Sustainability.
The aspirations for sustainability progressively guide companies to the construction of strategies that help to increase a continuously clean production, that is, the creation of products, processes and services with reduced use of resources and, as a consequence, less environmental impact. It also adds up to market demand, increasingly demanding and concerned with environmental issues. In the mining sector, practices aimed at the efficient use of resources are of paramount importance to sustained development, mainly due to the issues related to the extraction of natural goods, inherent to the activity. The same importance for environmentally appropriate measures concerns kaolin enterprises, because the exploitation produces a high percentage of waste, whose inadequate disposal causes several negative impacts on the mining and neighboring areas. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the practices of Cleaner Production (CP) in the companies of extraction and processing of kaolin in Rio Grande do Norte. To do so, a descriptive and inductive study of the mineral activity was carried out in three companies operating in the State through on-site visits, with annotation subsidies, photographic records, interviews and structured questionnaires, based on a literature review. The results showed that, despite the limitations imposed by the companies participating in the research regarding the provision of detailed data on the measures and plans adopted for waste management, mainly because they are information that compromise the environmental image of the enterprises studied, the measures aimed at the sustainable production proposed by the P + L is a challenge for the segment in the State, considering characteristics intrinsic to the process of obtaining kaolin benefited. As consequence, finally, suggestions for future work are presented.