São Paulo Offers Packaging Bill for Public Comment
Friday, May 22nd, 2009The Environment Secretariat (SMA) of São Paulo (SP) today published for public comment on its website a draft bill for a law on post-consumer packaging. The bill would create a rather complex shared responsibility system to ensure that post-consumer packaging in SP is either recycled or reused. Anyone wishing to submit comments or suggested changes to the […]
Mato Grosso Requires Cell Phone Take-Back
Sunday, May 17th, 2009It’s a very brief law — two articles, a total of four lines. But it may have a significant impact on the Brazilian market for cell phones and their accessories if other states follow Mato Grosso’s (MT) lead. When MT passed its e-waste law last year, the list of items covered did not include cell […]
Colombia Imposes Take-Back for Expired Medicines
Monday, March 2nd, 2009Two years ago Environment Minister got the attention of industry when he published for public comment two draft decrees imposing extended producer responsibility (EPR) for end-of-life batteries and medicines. Now, after nearly two years of discussions between the Environment Ministry (MAVDT) and industry groups representing the pharmaceutical sector in Colombia — namely the Colombian Pharmaceutical […]
Getting Tough About Lamp Take-Back
Saturday, August 9th, 2008Brazil [as have several other Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations] has been wrestling with the issue of proper disposal of fluorescent lamps for some time now. This becomes quite apparent just by browsing the Temas download list of laws and regulations regarding batteries and lamps — there are numerous lamp entries for Brazil, and […]
Paraná’s E-Waste Law / A Lei de Paraná Sobre E-lixo
Thursday, July 24th, 2008Last month the southern Brazilian state of Paraná adopted a law requiring manufacturers, distributors and vendors of “informatics” equipment operating in that state to set up a system for the recovery, recycling or destruction of their end-of-life (EOL) products that “does not pollute the environment.” “Informatics” is not defined in the law, but in Latin […]