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    A New Twist to Recyclables for Electricity Programs

    Monday, September 21st, 2009

    I’ve posted in the past about innovative Brazilian programs in the states of Ceará (CE), Mato Grosso (MT) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) to get people to turn in recyclables in exchange for getting a reduction in their monthly electric power bill.  One of the programs I liked was Consciência EcoAmpla, run by Endesa‘s subsidiary […]

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    Directional Signals in Brazilian Federal Waste Policy

    Monday, August 17th, 2009

    A 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 […]

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    Trash Photos XIX: A Visit to Minas’ Center on Waste

    Thursday, June 25th, 2009

    Yesterday 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 […]

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    Ceará Adopts Lamp and Battery Take-Back Law

    Friday, June 19th, 2009

    Yesterday the governor of the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará (CE) signed a law that would require the take-back of fluorescent lamps, batteries and piles. The very brief and simple law requires vendors of such products in the state to provide collection bins on their premises for consumers to drop off those at the end […]

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    Trash Photos XVIII: Fluorescent Lamp Collection in Brasilia

    Thursday, June 18th, 2009

    I’m in Brasilia now, and had some time between meetings, so I wandered through Patio Brasil, one of the shopping centers here.  If times allows, I like to wander through shopping centers in the cities that I visit.  I do it not so much for actual shopping or even window-shopping in the usual sense, but […]

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    Caixa Creates Label for Sustainable Housing

    Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

    Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF, popularly known among Brazilians as simply “Caixa”), Latin America’s largest public bank, is already involved in promoting green building though its insistence on construction using certified wood and its concessionary financing for the installation of the solar panels and water heaters in Brazil’s recently announced “My House My Life” Program to […]

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    Espirito Santo Adopts Law on Products Containing Heavy Metals

    Thursday, May 21st, 2009

    Last month Paraná (PR) adopted a law on mercury-containing products, now Espírito Santo (ES) has adopted a law on products containing heavy metals.  Which Brazilian state is next, and will it adopt PR’s single-substance approach, or ES’ broader wider net? Points of Confusion Article 1 of the brief ES law requires “suppliers” and distributors of […]

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    Paraná Adopts Take-Back Law for Mercury-Containing Products

    Saturday, April 18th, 2009

    Earlier this month the governor of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná (PR) signed a brief law that would require the take-back of fluorescent lamps, piles, cell phone batteries “and other artefacts” that contain metallic mercury. Who Collects? The law requires resellers of such products in the state to provide suitable collection bins on their […]

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    Rio to Require Take-Back of Fluorescent Lamps

    Thursday, February 26th, 2009

    The Environment Minister for Rio de Janeiro (RJ) State, Marilene Ramos, has sent to governor Sérgio Cabral for his signature a draft decree to implement a 2007 law requiring the take-back of end-of-life fluorescent lamps. The law required manufacturers, importers, distributors, resellers and vendors of fluorescent lamps to provide consumers with containers for the collection […]

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    McDonald’s Claims First “Ecological Restaurant” in Latin America

    Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

    McDonald’s just inaugurated what it claims to be the first “ecological restaurant” in Latin America — well, at least, the first one of their chain, anyway.  Take a look at why McDonald’s calls this an ecological restaurant and see if you agree: Arcos Dourados (“Golden Arches”), the company that manages the franchise network of McDonald’s […]

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