Infrastructure

Embedding a strong safety culture at one of South America’s largest waste management platforms

Solví Participações S.A. (Solví) waste disposal operations help to serve 10+ million people across Brazil, Peru and Argentina

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SectorInfrastructure
Sub-sectorServices
Location
Brazil

Opportunity

Solví’s operations largely focus on waste disposal through its 41 strategically located processing centres as well as long-term collection contracts across several metropolitan regions in Brazil, including São Paulo, the largest city by population in the Southern Hemisphere and the world’s third largest.

Its operations also include gas-to-energy facilities co-located at eight landfills and one renewable natural gas (RNG) plant, as well as other plants currently being implemented. More than 12,500 employees and contractors operate as a widely distributed and mobile workforce.

Prior to Macquarie’s investment, Solví had a 1.44 lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) in 2019 and an average of two fatalities per year in the five years prior.1 The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the essential need of enhanced safety measures to protect employees.


Approach

After acquiring a stake in Solví in 2019, Macquarie embarked on a two-year effort - fully supported by Solví and its senior leadership and on-site professionals - to realise work health and safety (WHS) improvements.

A significant safety-messaging challenge was resolving communications gaps at the leadership team level. Macquarie worked directly with the highest levels of Solví’s organisation to ensure an amplified and unimpeded line of communication between those at the executive level and those working on-site.

This included communication relating to enhancements to governance, training, data management, remediation measures, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and fleet management. Solví’s 'Diamond Safety Award' has now been established to recognise sites that achieve the highest standards of operational excellence.

Outcome

Macquarie has worked closely with Solví to finalise the implementation of improvements across the company, making safety both a core value and key priority.

During Macquarie’s five years of investment, there has been a significant reduction in the number of fatalities and lost time injuries occurring each year.

In 2024, Solví’s LTIFR was 0.22, a material 85 per cent reduction from the previous 1.44 LTIFR.2 While this is a marked improvement, Solví continues to maintain a very high degree of attention to safety, to ensure the company and its employees are committed to reduce the likelihood of serious incidents.

Since Macquarie’s investment, Solví has improved on monthly records for the lowest level of lost time injuries (LTIs) in its history multiple times, culminating in zero LTIs recorded for the first time ever in August 2021.

Solví’s workforce comprises over 12,500 employees, including over 100 full-time dedicated safety workers.

27.8

million hours worked for the year to 31 December 2024

0.22 LTIFR in 2024

frequency rate calculated against 200,000 hours worked

0

lost time injuries for the first time in August 2021 and fatalities through 2024

To foster a strong safety culture, we partnered with Solví to create the ‘Diamond Safety Award,’ recognising sites with the highest operational excellence. Our goal is to position Solví as a high-reliability organisation serving South America.”

San Burnett
Managing Director, Real Assets
Macquarie Asset Management

Definition of lost time injury (LTI): a work-related injury or illness that results in an employee being unable to perform their normal work duties for at least one full workday or shift following the incident.

Definition of lost time injury rate (LTIFR): a standardised measure used to track the frequency of lost time injuries relative to the total hours worked. It is typically calculated per 200,000 hours worked.

  1. https://www.macquarie.com/assets/macq/impact/esg/whs-case-study-solvi.pdf
  2. Frequency rate calculated against 200,000 hours worked.

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