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Loading ...$20 Mn. to Help Colombia Clean Up its Solid Waste Management / US$20 millones para apoyar a Colombia mejorar su manejo de los residuos sólidos
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009From the World Bank: Financing to address health and environmental problems The US$20 million for implementing the Solid Waste Management Program in Colombia will seek to improve the quality and coverage of the country’s integrated waste treatment services, benefiting close to 400,000 people thanks to the appropriate management of solid waste in landfills built by […]
Update: Colombian Government Finally Gets Its Eco-Teeth
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Nearly a year ago I posted about the environmental sanctions law approved by Colombia’s congress. What I didn’t know at the time of posting was that a week later the Executive Branch would raise formal objections to the law — essentially an attempt at a line-item veto. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies refused in […]
Eye on Ads: Promoting Handwashing
Thursday, April 30th, 2009It’s a relatively simple thing that it’s too often overlooked by local sanitary authorities and technical assistance programs, but soooooo important in improving public health and hygiene: getting everyone in the habit of regularly (and properly) washing their hands with soap. Below are two public service ads (PSAs) sponsored by Colombia’s Environment Ministry (MAVDT), originally […]
Air Travelers Can Help Mitigate Climate Change and Reforest Colombia
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Synopsis in English: Colombians can voluntarily purchase “green shares” for flights on a national air carrier, Aero República, through the offices of the airline and Aviatur offices. The minimum purchase is 5,000 pesos. The money collected through the sale of “green shares” will be used to mitigate climate change through reforestation program for Colombian ecosystems such […]
Colombia Imposes Take-Back for Expired Medicines
Monday, March 2nd, 2009Two years ago Environment Minister got the attention of industry when he published for public comment two draft decrees imposing extended producer responsibility (EPR) for end-of-life batteries and medicines. Now, after nearly two years of discussions between the Environment Ministry (MAVDT) and industry groups representing the pharmaceutical sector in Colombia — namely the Colombian Pharmaceutical […]
Colombia: Mining, Yes, But Not in National Parks
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009“Mining in Colombia, yes, but not in national parks,” insists Colombia’s Environment Minister Juan Lozano Ramírez. “Mining in Colombia, yes, but environmentally responsible. Mining in Colombia, yes, but not that they rob everything of value and leave us with deserts and zones of erosion.” He announced a total prohibition on all granting of mining licenses […]
Colombia’s New Hazardous Waste Law
Saturday, January 17th, 2009At the end of 2008 Colombia adopted a new Law on Prohibitive Environmental Norms Regarding Hazardous Waste and Discards. The new law is intended to close loopholes in prior law regarding hazardous waste imports, to toughen sanctions and enforcement, and to clarify liability for hazardous wastes from cradle-to-grave. That it does, mostly. But it repeats […]
Colombia Offers 2 Draft Rules on Detergents for Public Comment
Monday, January 12th, 2009Colombia’s Environment Ministry (MAVDT) has released for public comment two draft resolutions that, once adopted, would become binding rules on the detergent sector. The scope for both is the same: washing and cleaning products in any form (liquid, powder, paste, bar, cake, molded forms, etc.) and whether marketed for household, institutional, industrial or service uses. […]
A Cempre for Colombia
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008When I started research on the first edition of my book on waste and recycling policy in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) back in 1997, one of the first places I turned for information was Brazil’s Business Commitment to Recycling (Compromisso Empresarial para Reciclagem – Cempre). It was still located in Rio de Janeiro […]
Recovering Used Oil in Colombia
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008Recently Colombia’s Environment Minister, Juan Lozano Ramírez, lauded an industry initiative in that country to collect and environmentally manage used motor oil and lubricants known as the Used Oil Fund (Fondo de Aceites Usados – FAU). “This process is progressing successfully, ” declared Lozano, “because the trend now is, without a doubt, business strengthening that […]