Diamond Green Diesel, or DGD, an American pioneer in the production of renewable diesel, imports cow fat from a Brazilian slaughterhouse supplier that has been fined due to the removal of illegal forests. These plants, which bought livestock from a farm, described by the Brazilian authorities as the “largest destroyer of the Amazon” that were absolutely examined.
Brazil reporter Documents were obtained on the DGD supplier chain, in addition to this case, to at least two other slaughterhouses who bought livestock from livestock who were fined for practices related to widespread illegal removal.
These cases arouse a red sign about the potential harmful climatic effects of alternative fuel. Despite the image of biofuels as “green” fuel, the use of livestock inputs in its production can increase the removal of forests, as Tim Searchgerer, the first researcher at Princeton University. He said: “The reason that the land that is removed is to meet the increasing demand for food and biofuels.”
Forest removal represents about 13 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to United Nations estimates. In Brazil, he is a leading driver of these emissions.
On its website, DGD claims that its industrial factory can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent compared to fossil diesel. However, it does not mention any measures to prevent the purchase of the source fat from the pastures that were made. The company did not respond to suspension requests.
In addition to fueling cars and trucks, the Texas DGD SAF facility – short for “sustainable aviation fuel”, is a product that aims to reduce climate emissions in the aviation industry. Avfuel Corporation, one of the main jet fuel suppliers in the United States, received The first delivery of SAF from DGD in December 2024.
From the destruction of forests to biofuel production
According to the customs documents reviewed by Reporterter Brasil, the DGD purchases the red meat fat from the FASA group, a Brazilian company specialized in treating secondary secondary products. DGD and Fasa belong to the same economic group, where the Brazilian company was obtained in 2022 by the Texas -based popular components, a DGD owners through a joint venture with Valero Energy. It is based in Texas, Valero Energy is one of the largest fuel producers in the United States
The FASA group includes branches in the Amazon called Araguaia and Rio Verde, which is the source of fat from various slaughterhouses in the region. The history of the supplier, according to the official documents obtained by the report, includes Frialto, areas of Mato Grosso, which were identified through GTAS (animal transport guides) that buy livestock from a farm arrested by the Brazilian Federal Police in 2023. The Federal Prosecutor Office in Brazil accused him of accusing the forest equal to about 12,000 of the time before the investigation.
After one month of arrest, The reporter revealed that He bought Valeto cattle from the farm and its relatives. Now, the perpetrator obtained an official letter from the Mato Grosso government, on October 2023, related to the renewal of the Frialto operating license. In the document, a FASA company is listed as a receiving of the waste created by Frialto. According to customs records, the FASA unit has sent itself to beef to DGD several times between 2023 and 2024.
At the time of detention, Frialto stated that it had suspended business with the characteristics of the farm. Recroter Brasil contacted the strains again to inquire about his dealings with FASA and any measures taken to avoid identifying sources from illegal illegal areas but did not receive any response.
FASA, loved ingredients, Valero Energy, and DGD also did not respond to suspension requests.
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The issue of removing other illegal forests associated with the DGD Sulecin. LKJ’s livestock records showed that in July 2023, LKJ bought animals from a farm at Brazil Cerrado Biome – called APUCARANA FARM – which narrowed 381 hectares after environmental authorities confirmed the removal of illegal forests. Cerrado is another BIome in Brazil facing rapid destruction and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
A fisa subsidiary in Para state regularly received residue from LKJ between 2022 and 2023, according to the company’s documents obtained by Reporterter Brasil, which shows trucks to deliver raw materials. This itself also presented itself lard to cow meat to DGD from 2023 to 2024, according to customs records.
When connected, LKJ attributed the purchase of livestock from the APUCARANA farm to a failure in its internal actions, saying it has a policy of not buying from the banned areas. (See the full response hereThe company has claimed that it has since prohibited both the farm and other properties of the same resource of future sales. LKJ did not comment on her commercial relationship with FASA.
Like other slaughterhouses, LKJ is a signature on an agreement with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Brazil-known as Portuguese, MPF-which requires adopting anti-definition standards in the purchase of livestock in the Amazon. In May this year, MPF released the audit results that focused on LKJ operations, and revealed this Nearly 2,700 animals were slaughtered by the company in 2022 – about 8 percent of the audited sample – they did not meet the standards of the agreement. This was the worst result among the six audited slaughterhouses in the state of Tokantin, where LKJ is located.
In 2023 and 2024, as well as fat sources from FASA, DGD also imported the fat directly from Mineva, the second largest beef company in Brazil, the customs data gallery.
Last year, a study conducted by the Great Organization identified the land as one of the customers provided by The largest Diurerester in Brazilian BantanalWho was fined the highest penalty kick ever imposed by the Mato Grosso State Ministry of State. The individual was responsible by the state’s civil police for the destruction of 8,1200 hectares of the original vegetation – a larger area of Manhattan Island – by spraying the insecticides that contain chemicals that are also present in “OCCENT Orange”. At the time of publishing, which used the data collected by Reporterter Brasil, the company stated that it had banned a farm in the future.
The Mineva Factory in Araguaína, in the case of TOCANTINS, is among those mentioned in customs documents that export fat to DGD. The 2021 report showed that this facility has bought livestock from a A farm farm was fined for illegally clearing 198 acres of Amazon rain forests. Another investigation revealed in the same year that the indirect supply chain of the factory included a The farm, where the Brazilian authorities saved workers from similar conditions to slavery.
Mineva was contacted to comment on livestock policies and its relationship with DGD, but it did not respond.
Brazil exports more fat to the United States
In 2022, Brazil exported 63,000 tons of fat to the United States in 2023, this number jumped to 202,000 tons. In the first five months of 2025, Brazil had already shipped 111,000 tons, according to data from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Services.
The increase coincides with the acquisition of the FASA group of beloved ingredients. Last year, the United States was the destination for 90 percent of all Brazilian fat exports.
The grease is derived from beef from cows tissue waste and has a relatively low production cost, as it is extracted from less valuable parts of the animal, such as the sacrifice. Its use is often described as “animal recycling” and is usually promoted as a solution to get rid of the residue of the slaughterhouse.
Could it be if not for the Amazon saving?
Because it is considered a secondary product, the grease is not subject to the same tracking requirements as beef. However, according to Searchinger, the grease is a valuable food industry – it is, for example, widely used in animal feeding. When converting it into fuel production, it shows, increases the demand for vegetable oils and other fats to replace it. “This, in turn, increases pressure on the ground,” he says.
Searchinger has argued that biofuel growth is only applicable due to general benefits. He believes that instead of supporting the sector, rich countries must finance environmental preservation in the global south.
“Carbon dioxide can be generated by $ 100 on a plane on airline tickets an annual fund of $ 100 billion. This money can be used to pay countries like Brazil to maintain their forests and increase livestock productivity in the already disinfectants,” SEARCHRIRERS.