Dinant Volunteers Support Reforestation Efforts In Honduras
Part of Company’s Wide Ranging Commitment to Protect Natural Environment
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS, 26 OCTOBER 2021: As part of Dinant’s continued commitment to protect and enhance the natural environment, staff volunteers recently participated in reforestation activities in Comayagua and San Pedro Sula. The tree planting drives are the latest in a long line of reforestation schemes that Dinant has supported throughout Honduras. Around 60 Dinant volunteers joined 20 members of El Porvenir community, near to Dinant’s Home and Personal Care manufacturing facility located in Comayagua, to plant 500 native trees – including cedar, carreto, and macuelizo – next to Palo Verde Finca on municipal land by the Selguapa River. The reforestation day was supported by local Air Force Cadets and was operated out of Dinant’s distribution center in Comayagua. In addition, staff volunteers from Dinant’s snacks factory and distribution center in San Pedro Sula helped to plant 300 trees in a second reforestation drive at Los Ladrillos, Cofradía, in Cortés. Company spokesman, Roger Pineda, said, “Dinant established its palm oil plantations on existing agricultural land, and so no crucial habitat has ever been destroyed or negatively impacted by our plantations. However, protecting and enhancing the natural environment is at the heart of Dinant’s business model and at the core of our values, and so we shall continue to support reforestation projects throughout Honduras.” Due to significant reductions in the use of chemical fertilizers, as well as a change in cultural practices in Dinant’s agricultural operations, flora has flourished at all of the company’s palm plantations, providing animals with better nutrition, shelter and wildlife corridors. For many years, Dinant has invested in a wide range of environmental initiatives:- Dinant’s palm oil plantations and extraction mills have been awarded two International Sustainability and Carbon Certifications – ISCC EU and ISCC Plus – for the sustainability of raw materials, the traceability of the supply chain, and control of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Dinant’s high-tech biogas recovery unit at its oil extraction mill in the Aguan uses biomass from the waste of the palm fruit to produce both clean energy that is returned to the facility and steam that is used to power the boilers. This facility has generated over 114 million m³ of biogas since 2008, reducing the use of fossil fuels by nearly 10 million gallons.
- The extraction mills at Aguan and Lean have zero discharge operations, with the wastewater used for fertirrigation and the production of organic compost.
