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Loading ...Directional Signals in Brazilian Federal Waste Policy
Monday, August 17th, 2009A body most people have never heard of, part of a larger organization many people do not know or understand, met today and took a series of decisions that will help shape new directions in waste policy in Brazil. The larger organization many do not know and a good many do not understand is Brazil’s […]
Acordo Mineiro Sobre a Gestão de Resíduos Eletroeletrônicos
Thursday, August 13th, 2009Desde a Fundação Estadual do Meio Ambiente (FEAM): Acordo irá incrementar ações de gestão de resíduos eletroeletrônicos Previsto para acontecer ao longo de 2010, o projeto estabelecerá uma parceria, inicialmente, com 25 empresas que irão repassar equipamentos como computadores, telefones, celulares e impressoras em desuso para a Feam, que dentro do projeto 3RsPCs – Resíduos […]
Trash Photos XIX: A Visit to Minas’ Center on Waste
Thursday, June 25th, 2009Yesterday 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 […]
Swiss to Help Minas Prepare E-waste Diagnosis
Monday, March 9th, 2009The government of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state wants to regulate waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE, or “e-waste” or “e-scrap”), and with their new state waste policy law, they have ample authority to do so. There’s just one problem: they are not sure of the full extent and nature of the e-waste problem in their […]
Minas’ New State Waste Law Features Take-Back
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Last week the governor of Minas Gerais (MG) signed the State Solid Waste Policy Law. The Law’s 57 articles establish the principles, guidelines, goals and instruments for the correct management of waste, and defines the obligations of different waste generators and the users of urban sanitation services. Minas is not the first Brazilian state to […]
Minas Trumpets Its Waste Policy Achievements
Saturday, December 27th, 2008Minas Gerais, Brazil’s second most populous state and one of its mining, metals and agriculture powerhouses, is pretty proud of its recent accomplishments in waste policy and management. I’ve chronicled here a couple of their steps, such as the modernized inspection/enforcement regime and the creation of the Waste Reference Center (CMRR). But that only touches […]
Minas Moves to Improve Air Quality
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008Synopsis in English: The State Environment Foundation (FEAM) of Minas Gerais (MG) is upgrading its monitoring of air quality in this key Brazilian state. All its automated measurements will be conducted around the clock 365 days a year, with results accessible via the internet soon to be more frequent than daily. This includes new monitoring […]
Minas Gets Tough on Environmental Enforcement
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Last year I blogged about how the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was giving its environment inspectors the digital tools they need to make their jobs easier. Since then I have kept one eye on Minas and the inspectors of its State Environment System (Sisema), not only because of the changes in enforcement that they […]
Using Steel Waste as Fertilizer?
Monday, June 9th, 2008Synopsis in English: The Environmental Policy Council (Copam) of the state with the bulk of Brazil’s iron and steel manufacturing capacity, Minas Gerais, recently ruled [via what they call a binding “Normative Deliberation” (Deliberação Normativa- DN)] that certain iron and steel making wastes can be utilized as fertilizer in eucalyptus plantations in that state. Certain […]
Minas Seeks Packaging Waste Dialogue with Tetra-Pak
Friday, September 28th, 2007Paraná forced a deal on Tetra Pak regarding waste from its long-life packaging (aseptic) packaging; now Minas Gerais (MG) wants a dialog about the same issue. If I were Tetra Pak executives, I’d start being concerned about the direction the drink packaging waste issue is taking in Brazil (if they aren’t already). As I mentioned […]