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Loading ...Mini-Bins Make for Cleaner Beaches
Sunday, February 8th, 2009In the first few months after I launched The Temas Blog, I came across a an article in regional Brazilian periodical about a couple of professors in a Paraná university who had this interesting idea. Cognizant of data showing that a large percentage of trash found on beaches consists of small items such as cigarette […]
Recycling Used Motor Oil Packaging in Brazil
Thursday, December 25th, 2008In past posts I’ve discussed how recovery of used motor oil is still in its early stages in Latin American nations such as Brazil and Colombia. But that’s only part of the waste problem generated by the lubricants we use in motor vehicles. There’s also the packaging that the new motor oil comes in, the […]
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 Increases Pesticide Packaging Recovery
Monday, August 4th, 2008Synopsis in English: In June the southern Brazilian of Paraná announced that it had increased its recovery of pesticide packaging by 20% (by weight) over the prior year. Just last year Paraná announced that they want to become the first state to comply 100% with the federal mandate to take back such packaging. North America […]
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 […]
More Glass Packaging Recovery, Less Piracy?
Sunday, October 7th, 2007When discussing recovery/recycling among packaging materials in Brazil, glass sometimes suffers by comparison. Brazil is a world leader in recycling PET and aluminum cans, and high among recyclers of corrugated cardboard (77%). Brazil’s 45% annual recycling rate for glass packaging is better than the glass packaging rate for the US (but then again, the US […]
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? […]
A Solar Water Heater Made of PET Bottles
Monday, July 2nd, 2007Synopsis 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 […]
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 […]