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  • Trash Photos XIX: A Visit to Minas’ Center on Waste

    Thursday, June 25th, 2009

    Yesterday I visited an institution in Belo Horizonte (BH) that, to my knowledge, is unique in Brazil, if not the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).   The Minas Waste Reference Center (Centro Mineiro de Referência em Resíduos – CMRR) opened in 2007 with the mission to serve as the focal point in the […]

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    Update: Tetra Pak & Aseptic Packaging Recycling in Paraná

    Sunday, August 17th, 2008

    I’ve been asked by a reader whether the deal negotiated last year between Paraná environment officials and aseptic packaging producer Tetra Pak has produced the results desired/expected. Funny you should ask that (maybe it’s not a coincidence?) — the two just issued a progress report. To refresh memories, the two-year “plan of action” agreed between […]

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    A Solar Water Heater Made of PET Bottles

    Monday, July 2nd, 2007

    Synopsis in English: The government of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná has been conducting an interesting experiment in environmental design utilizing waste materials. Since August 2006 state agencies have sponsored projects to construct solar water heaters constructed from used PET bottles and “long life” (aseptic) milk packaging. So far some 3,000 such heaters have […]

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    Tetra-Pak Given 60 Days to Propose Packaging Waste Solution… Or Else!

    Wednesday, May 30th, 2007

    Synopsis in English: In a meeting held in Curitiba in the middle of May, the government of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná gave Tetra-Pak executives (including the Vice President for Central and South America) 60 days to come up with their own proposal to solve the post-consumer waste problem in that state associated with […]

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    Trash Photos VIII: More Christmas Trees Made from Recyclables

    Monday, November 27th, 2006

    I’ve found some interesting examples of elementary school competitions in Brazil getting classes to construct Christmas trees from recyclable packaging waste — whether plastic bottles (whole or sliced up), plastic bags, metal cans, or even aseptic drink boxes (Tetra brik). They are, of course, accompanied by discussion with the kids of the different materials, why […]

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    “Trash Photos”

    Saturday, September 2nd, 2006

    From time to time I’ll be posting in this blog some of what my family and friends have jokingly come to call “trash photos” — pictures taken everywhere — mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, but some in North America too — on my favorite issue, waste management, in all its manifestations. Some I’ll […]

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