Recyclables for Electricity Program Catches On
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008When the 10 winners for 2008 of the biennial World Business and Development Awards were announced a few weeks back, the Spanish energy conglomerate Endesa was one of the recipients for a program its subsidiaries run in two Brazilian states. The program helps people pay for their power bills while promoting recycling. While an interesting [...]
Targeting Key States in Brazil’s Battle vs. Amazon Deforestation
Monday, November 24th, 2008The Norwegian government is funding, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is administering, a US$4.3 million pilot project by Brazil’s Environment Ministry (MMA) and the governments of three states — Acre (AC), Mato Grosso (MT) and Pará (PA) — to combat deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. As I’ve noted here in the past, MT and [...]
Brazilian States Publicize Consumer Complaints
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008In September the 21 Brazilian state consumer agencies (known in Brazil as “Procons”) belonging to the National System of Consumer Defense Information (Sistema Nacional de Informações de Defesa do Consumidor - SINDEC) opened (mostly on the internet) their registries of consumer complaints, including their rankings of which firms were the subject of the greatest number [...]
CNPq vai investir R$ 22 milhões em biodiesel / CNPq to Invest R$22 Million in Biodiesel Production Research
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008Brazil’s National Council on Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) has announced that it will invest R$22 million to stimulate research into improving biodiesel production. The offering involves four different calls for proposals, and involves funds from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - FNDCT), CNPq’s Agro-business [...]
CNPq to Invest R$8 Million in Alternative Fertilizer Research
Monday, September 1st, 2008Brazil’s National Council on Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) has announced that it will invest R$8 million to stimulate research into the development of alternative fertilizers. The program is an acknowledgment of the fact that much of current Brazilian agricultural production utilizes fertilizers from non-renewable sources, often imported, that can create both economic problems for [...]
Update: Among the World’s Top PET Recyclers
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008Who was #2 in PET recycling in 2006 (the last year for which there are comparable figures among nations)?
Did you answer Brazil?
In 2006 Brazil recycled 180 kilotons (Kt), representing about 51.3% of the PET sold in the country during that year. This means that Brazil recycles at double the rate that the US does, and [...]
Developing Environmental Health Indicators for the Brazilian Amazon
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008Synopsis in English: In the wake of the recent decision to prepare a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and health challenges facing the capital of Amazonas state, Manuas, the National School of Public Health (ENSP) has decided to perform a complementary exercise for the broader Brazilian region known as “the Legal Amazon” (”Amazônia Legal”). “Amazônia [...]
Amapá Adopts a Recycling Policy
Friday, August 1st, 2008In early July Governor Waldez Góes signed a law creating a State Materials Recycling Policy. The new Law is based on similar measures adopted by several other Brazilian states, including Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rondônia. It seeks to promote and provide incentives to the commercialization and industrial utilization [...]
CNPq to Invest R$22 million in Biofuel Research
Sunday, November 4th, 2007Brazil's National Council on Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) has announced that it will invest R$ 22 million to stimulate research that aids improvements in the production of ethanol and biodiesel in Brazil. The resources will be tapped from CNPq's existing Sectoral Funds for Petroleum and Natural Gas (CT-Petro), Agro-business (CT-Agro) and Biotechnology (CT-Biotechnology). Two [...]
Apoio de R$22.9 milhões para cooperativas de catadores
Monday, October 15th, 2007Synopsis in English: Brazilian President Lula announced on 01 October the first 24 financial lines to be awarded by the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) to cooperatives of unofficial waste sorters/ recyclers known in Brazil as catadores. The catador cooperatives are generally composed of the very poor that live off of the recyclables [...]
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