July 11, 2022

15:07

Ívina Garcia – Amazon Agency

MANAUS – Yamaha Motors held this Saturday morning, 9, a socio-environmental action to clean the Igarapé do Gigante, near the Marina do Davi, West Zone of Manaus, in allusion to the 67 years of the company, celebrated throughout the month of July in several cities in the country. In total, 8 tons of garbage were removed from the creek.

Besides the cleanup, Yamaha’s volunteer employees, with the help of 100 agents of the Municipal Secretariat of Public Cleaning (Semulsp) of the Manaus City Hall, also carried out an awareness action so that the residents and visitors of the surroundings do not continue to dispose of garbage in an irregular manner. More than 20 boats were used in the activities.

The company adapted the anniversary event, held worldwide, to the needs of each region of the country, always with a social focus. “In Brazil, we are collecting warm clothes in regions that are colder, and food at a national level. Here in Manaus, we did this specific action of cleaning the streams because we saw that there is a different need”, says Andrea Jesus, Yamaha Náutica’s marketer.

According to Andrea, still during the organization of the action, other companies based in the Manaus Free Trade Zone (MFTZ) also showed interest in doing this kind of work. “I believe that the repercussion of this work will certainly motivate other people to do it, the idea is just that, because everyone wins”, she says.

According to data from the Manaus City Hall, about 35 tons of garbage are removed every day from the city’s streams. It is a continuous action of the agency, which besides the effective work of removal also seeks to raise awareness among the population through the “Garis da Alegria”, who were present at Yamaha’s action, singing and dancing while talking about environmental preservation.

National Relevance

Employing 2,600 people, directly, at the Yamaha factory in Manaus, the company was installed in the Industrial Complex 37 years ago and is the second factory unit created in Brazil. For this reason, according to Andrea Jesus, the company chose the city to be the first in Brazil to receive the action focused on the environment.

“In Manaus, the roads are rivers, so it was an obvious choice for us and, in addition, the relevance of Manaus for Brazil and, globally, also impacted the choice of this project. We will make several episodes, on Instagram, and we want it to have worldwide repercussions so that people see Manaus in a different way, thinking about the future”, says Andrea.

Irregular waste

According to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the decomposition process of certain waste thrown in the trash and ending up in nature can take 500 years. Plastic, for example, can take 450 years to decompose, Styrofoam takes about 400 years, and bottle caps can reach 150 years.

Without the interference of agencies, companies, and NGOs, in the removal and recycling of this irregularly discarded waste, the nature imbalance could worsen, causing an increase in greenhouse gas emissions that cause global climate change.

At the site of the action, the reporter was informed about a further stretch, which according to the boat driver, who preferred not to be identified, is commonly used for irregular disposal. Pieces of wood, plastic, remains of household appliances, and gallons of diesel fuel were dumped at the edge of the creek. According to the driver, after disposal, this trash ends up spreading in the river because of the rain.