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Loading ...Promoting Renewable Energy in Costa Rica
Thursday, July 10th, 2008A bill has been introduced in Costa Rica’s national assembly by Deputy José Merino del Río that aims at promoting a faster switch to renewable energy sources by exempting from taxes the following items: Solar water heaters for all uses whose efficiency has been certified by an accredited laboratory; Storage tanks for thermosyphon solar water […]
Mato Grosso’s E-Waste Law / A Lei de Mato Grosso Sobre E-lixo
Sunday, June 1st, 2008Last month, while The Temas Blog was still on hiatus, the central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso (MT) became the first Latin American jurisdiction to pass a specific law on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), or “technological trash” (lixo tecnológico) as Brazilians tend to call it.* The new law creates a take-back regime and […]
Bahia to Adopt Paraná’s Zero Waste Program Model
Saturday, October 13th, 2007I’ve mentioned here several times the innovative Zero Waste Program (Programa Desperdício Zero) of the southern Brazilian state Paraná, such as how it applies to glass recycling, pesticide packaging, aseptic packaging and finding new ways to reuse/recycle plastic (PET) bottles (such as building solar water heaters). At some point I should do a comprehensive post […]
Morelos Gets a Comprehensive Waste Law
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007The central Mexican state of Morelos (home of Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata) just adopted its own comprehensive state solid waste law. Since Mexico adopted its federal General Law for the Prevention and Integrated Management of Wastes in 2003, the Federal District (DF) and many states have adopted their own general waste laws, or else amended […]
Postscript on the Battery Recycling Controversy in Paraná
Sunday, September 30th, 2007Remember the local opposition to a car battery “recycling” (mining) operation in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná last March that eventually led to state environment officials in May to suspend the company’s environmental license and initiating a full review of all state environmental, health and safety policies regarding enterprises handling lead and its compounds? […]
Ecomoto Comes to Colombia
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007Synopsis in English: Motorola’s take-back program for cell phones (and two-way communicators) and their batteries and accessories (chargers, cords, earphones, etc.), ECOMOTO, has now expanded in Latin America from Brazil to Colombia. Designated collection points established in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Pereira will accept used cell phones, two-way radios, their batteries and accessories […]
Cidadania Ambiental
Thursday, September 20th, 2007It is an honor and pleasure to introduce this guest poster. Arnaldo Jardim is a civil engineer with many years of public service in Brazil, first in state executive posts (including Housing Secretary) and then as a State Deputy in São Paulo (SP), and currently as a Federal Deputy. While State Deputy he headed the […]
Tetra-Pak Chooses to Deal
Thursday, July 26th, 2007Synopsis in English: In May the environment officials of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná called in Tetra Pak officials and told them to come up with a proposal to solve the post-consumer waste problem in that state associated with their long-life (aseptic) packaging — or face drastic action by the government, such as banning […]
An Interesting Twist to the Battery Recycling Story
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007A few days ago I posted about a controversy in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná involving community opposition to the environmental licensing of a battery recycling facility just outside town. I concluded by saying: Looking on the bright side, the mere fact that you can view a news report such as this one says […]
Battery Recycling? Not in my Backyard!
Saturday, March 24th, 2007As the video below from RPC (Rede Paranaense de Comunicação) TV demonstrates, there’s an interesting flap underway in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Seems that a number of neighbors in a rural community discovered that a business was set to open nearby that would take in used car batteries for recycling — mainly to […]