Novo Nordisk's enzyme plant is located adjacent to a wooded area on the outskirts of Curitiba, the capital of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Curitiba has over two million inhabitants. The plant was inaugurated in 1989 and produces enzymes for the detergent, food and textile industries, primarily for the Latin American market. The total number of employees at year-end was 149.

"We have new legislation in Brazil regulating the use and release of GMOs. But the law is general does not set fixed limits. On a voluntary basis, we are setting the same limits as in Denmark."
Omar Kalluf, Chemical Engineer, Araucária, and a member of Novo Nordisk's International Environmental Network.

Major impacts on the environment
The major impacts are discharges of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter to a river and surrounding farmland. As in Denmark and the USA, spent biomass, containing the major part of the nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter content, is treated with lime to make fertilizer for distribution to local farms.


Breaches of regulatory limit values
Four breaches, including one repeated breach of the suspended solids limit (over 1 ml/l of waste water), were reported in 1997. This is a big improvement compared to 1996 when a total of 29 breaches were reported, including 17 breaches concerning suspended solids.

To deal with this problem, a new method was introduced in 1997 in the waste water treatment plant consisting of two lagoons. By stopping aeration in the second lagoon, the solids now settle to the bottom. The sludge is taken away once or twice a year for lime treatment and recycled as fertilizer. In 1998, it is planned to add a second decanter between the two lagoons to remove more of the solids. Then the waste treatment plant can operate more efficiently.

To reduce the concentration of BOD5 in the waste water, water recycling from the second to the first lagoon has been introduced.

Environmental focus
Although the Brazilian authorities set no limits for nitrogen, the main focus is on reducing this discharge. The average concentration of nitrogen in 1997 was 170 mg/l of waste water, while the corresponding figure for phosphorus was 4.2 mg/l. A target for 1998 is to reduce nitrogen discharges and a team of experts has been set up to tackle this question and other specific projects.

During 1997, the spent biomass was monitored to detect viable GMOs. At the end of 1997, the monitoring was extended to cover waste water as well. No viable GMOs have been detected in either biomass or waste water since the start of monitoring. A target for 1998 is to monitor the exhaust air from the fermentation plant as well.

Araucária data

Suzhou & Tianjin, China