SUSTAINABILITY

For Blau, sustainability is the path that can make its growth healthy and even more efficient. Through sustainability, the company connects with its main stakeholders – employees, local community and society in general, government, press and investors –, transmitting its purpose and its brand through the commitments assumed.

To guide these commitments, the company defined the materiality matrix below, which brings together the most relevant issues for Blau’s responsible management and, consequently, for communication with stakeholders.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Environmental management is one of the paths to make our healthy growth even more efficient. Through it, we connect with our main stakeholders – employees, local community and society in general, government and the press – and convey our purpose and brand through the commitments we have made.

We constantly manage the environmental impacts of our activities. We strive for increasingly efficient management of energy and water resources, as well as the correct disposal of waste and effluents by implementing projects and mechanisms designed to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) resulting from our operations into the atmosphere.

Social

We support social, sports and cultural projects in order to expand the reach and effectiveness of our effort as an agent of social transformation in the lives of people and society around our plants.

We donate funds to institutions that provide recognized social activities. We do this through monthly contributions, via incentive laws, to social institutions operating in four pillars: health, inclusion, culture and sports. In addition, our employees conduct their own volunteering actions.

All these actions must be aligned with our Values and Purpose and, whenever possible, benefit the communities where we operate. Our goal is to offer education, culture and inclusion, bringing lasting results to communities and promoting the engagement of our employees in actions that create a positive impact. Analyzing these real positive impacts, we observe greater proximity to the surrounding population and a better quality of life of these people.

 

PROJECTS WE BELIEVE IN AND SUPPORT

Area of activity: Municipal Fund for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (Fumcad)

• Early Stimulation and Habilitation Program: the Association of Parents and Friends of Exceptional People (Apae, in Portuguese) of Cotia (SP) is a charity dedicated to bringing people with disabilities a dignified place in society. The Apae Early Stimulation and Habilitation Program aims to provide early intervention in the care of children aged zero to six, who have been diagnosed with intellectual disability and/or delayed neuropsychomotor development. Our support for the project was approved by the Municipal Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents.

• Pequeno Príncipe Complex -“For Another 100 Years” Project: for over 100 years, the Pequeno Príncipe Complex, the largest pediatric hospital in Brazil, has been a reference in medium and high complexity procedures that benefit children from all over the country. The hospital is maintained by the Dr. Raul Carneiro Hospital Association for the Protection of Children, a non-profit dedicated to health services, education and research. We have been its partners for many years through the Municipal Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents of Curitiba (PR).

Area of activity: Law of the Elderly

• Lar Escola Francisco Cândido Xavier: is a non-profit located in Caucaia do Alto, which runs projects aimed at restoring the dignity of people aged over 60. The place is maintained with the characteristics of a home so that the elderly feel welcomed in a completely family-like environment. It also promotes the integration of senior citizens with the community.

• Hospital de Amor: the Support to the Elderly project provides multidisciplinary care to thousands of patients aged over 60 each year at Hospital São Judas Tadeu, one of the units of Hospital de Amor in Barretos. The donations, derived from tax incentives established by the Law of the Elderly, are intended to cover the costs incurred by the unit on palliative care and overall care for the elderly.

Area of activity: Rouanet Law

• Rumo ao Riso: the social project Rumo ao Riso, launched by actress and model Gabi Roncatti, takes therapeutic clowning to hospitals, benefiting not only patients of all ages but also their companions and health professionals. Inspired by the work of American physician Patch Adams, the project focuses on alleviating stress in the hospital environment and transforming it into a lighter and more welcoming space.

• Locomotiva Orchestra: this initiative benefits around 2,000 children and teens between seven and 17 in socially vulnerable regions in the cities of São Paulo, Santo André and Mauá in São Paulo. It offers free group music lessons, in which participants put into practice diverse skills that are fundamental for personal and social development.

Area of activity: Sports Law

• Racing Project: opens up opportunities for promising race drivers seeking success at the national level by participating in the Brazilian Stock Car Championship – the country’s flagship motorsport competition.

Governance

The topic of sustainability is on the agenda of all meetings of our highest governance body, which is why there exists a formal process of communication and informing the directors on issues related to ESG, as well as continuous training of our teams through workshops to disseminate the topic in the daily business operations

We are listed in the Novo Mercado segment of B3, which is currently the transparency and governance standard demanded by investors for publicly-held companies and for listing shares. This segment is destined for trading shares of companies that voluntarily adopt corporate governance best practices in addition to those required by Brazilian law. Our listing in this special segment implies the adoption of corporate rules that expand shareholders’ rights in addition to the disclosure of policies and implementation of oversight and control structures.

All this attests to the quality of our corporate governance, which also follows the Code of Best Practices of the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC) and meets the highest legal standards. To this end, our governance structure consists of the Shareholders Meeting, Board of Directors, Advisory Committees, Executive Board and Fiscal Council (non-permanent body).

Besides complying with legal requirements, this structure has resulted in our inclusion in some of the most important indexes on the Brazilian stock exchange, such as the BM&FBOVESPA Brazil Broad-Based Index (Ibra), Consumer Stock Index (Icon), Diversity Index (IDVR), Corporate Governance Trade Index (IGCT), Special Corporate Governance Stock Index (IGCX), Novo Mercado Corporate Governance Equity Index (IGNM), Special Tag-Along Stock Index (ITAG) and Small Cap Index (SMLL).