São Paulo, April 29, 2021 – JBS has just inaugurated its can factory at Guaiçara, in the hinterland of São Paulo. Investment in the plant, with leading-edge technology and focus on Industry 4.0, exceeded R$ 80 million and the plant has three production lines dedicated exclusively to the manufacture of metal packaging for aerosols, in both steel (tinplate) and aluminum. This makes the Company the only one in Brazil operating with both metals as raw materials.
The new unit will employ 100 people and will boost the Company’s annual aerosol production capacity to more than 220 million cans to serve the cosmetics and deodorant markets.
Built with the focus on expansion, which should occur in the years ahead, the plant uses equipment imported from Europe, which allows remote access for maintenance and repairs, as well as double printing that makes lithographing the packaging more agile.
“The new plant in Guaiçara heralds the beginning of our operations in the aluminum cans segment. Besides expanding our production capacity and strengthening our positioning as one of the key players in the industry, we will certainly also have one of the country’s most modern plants”, says Marcelo Jorcovix, executive officer of Zempack, the JBS business unit.
New moment
The inauguration of the plant also signals a new moment for the JBS Novos Negócios division. Previously called JBS Embalagens Metálicas, the business unit will henceforth be called Zempack.
The new name and more modern visual identity are part of the business repositioning process which in recent years has seen a series of investments in plant expansion, technology, sustainability and the expansion of the portfolio.
Jorcovix goes on to say: “We believe that the new brand will help us ass more value to the business and to build an even more successful trajectory, including on the overseas market”.
Sustainable production
End-to-end sustainability is the hallmark of the production processes at Zempack, which is always striving for best market practices. The entire energy supply to the plants is produced by Biolins, the electricity production unit of JBS, located in Lins (SP), and which use 100% raw materials from renewable sources like sugarcane bagasse and reforestation splinters.
In addition, the entire tinplate packaging production cycle adheres to the reverse logistics system, while 100% of the material discarded in the production process is forwarded to JBS Ambiental which re-inserts it in the sector industry through steel mills. This ensures that unutilized tinplate is reabsorbed into the chain itself.
Zempack is also a member of the Packaging Sector Agreement and the Pro-lata Program – an initiative of the Brazilian Tinplate Packaging Association (Abeaço), which has a presence in the five regions of Brazil. The Pro-lata Program, which the Company has supported since 2012, having been one of the founders, operates is on three fronts: reception hubs for large volumes, cooperatives of recyclable material collectors – for social inclusion – and voluntary drop-off points for end-consumers. Today, there are over 50 associate cooperatives operating across Brazil and, up to last year, more than 31,000 tons of tinplate had been recycled.
For the food industry, metal packaging has the benefit of preserving the natural properties of the product unchanged, protecting the food for more than two years in adverse climate, transport and handling conditions.
It is also worth emphasizing that all packaging the Company produces is 100% recyclable, besides being light, resistant, high-quality and robust.
About JBS
JBS is the world’s second-largest food company and the largest in the animal protein sector. With a global platform diversified by type of products (poultry, pork, beef and lamb), the Company has over 250,000 employees in production units and offices on all continents, in countries like Brazil, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China, among others. In Brazil, JBS is the country’s largest employer, with over 145,000 employees. Worldwide, JBS offers an extensive portfolio of brands recognized for excellence and innovation: Seara, Swift, Pilgrim’s Pride, Moy Park, Primo, and Just Bare, among many others, which find their way every day onto the tables of consumers in 190 countries. The Company is also investing in correlated businesses like leather, biodiesel, collagen, personal hygiene and cleaning, natural wrapping, solid waste management solutions, recycling, metallic packaging and transport, with emphasis on the circular economy. JBS conducts its operations allocating priority to high quality and food safety, while adopting the best sustainability and animal welfare practices across its entire value chain and, in March 2021 it assumed the commitment to become Net Zero by 2040. This means that JBS will zero the net balance of its greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the intensity of the direct and indirect emissions and offsetting all residual emissions. JBS was the first global company in the protein sector to take on this commitment, with intention of feeding people around the world in an increasingly sustainable manner.