Computer Take-Back in Rio de Janeiro / A Lei Sobre E-lixo do Municipio de Rio de Janeiro
Monday, June 22nd, 2009Last week the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro (MRJ) (population 6 million) became the first major Brazilian city to adopt an e-waste law. The law is rather short and simple. It requires manufacturers and suppliers of computers to receive in their offices, branches or headquarters in the City “obsolete” computers discarded by consumers. The Law defines […]
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 Gets Producer Responsibility Agreement for End-of-Life Lighting
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Colombia’s Environment Ministry (MAVDT) has signed a convenant with nine of the most important lamp manufacturers and importers — Osram, Philips, GE, Havells Sylvania Colombia, Carrefour, Greenlight, Mecanelectro, Sodimac Colombia — to take charge of electrical and electronic lighting at the end of their product life. The companies agree to: Advance efforts to design and […]
An E-Waste/RoHS Bill For Uruguay
Monday, September 29th, 2008Earlier this month a bill was introduced in the Uruguayan legislature to “create a management system for waste from electrical and electronic apparatuses.” Uruguay, it seems, is joining Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica among the Latin American nations finally moving to tackle the WEEE issue. The bill is relatively short (2 pages) and simple, […]
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 […]