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  • A WEEE Bill for Amazonas

    Saturday, September 26th, 2009

    This week Amazonas (AM) became the latest state in which a bill on  “technological trash” (lixo tecnologico or e-lixo) – the Brazilians nickname for what is known elsewhere as WEEE or e-waste — has been introduced. Unlike bills recently introduced in the northeastern states of Bahia and Pernambuco, which are based primarily on a Law on […]

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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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    São Paulo Adopts a WEEE Law

    Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

    The state assembly of the state of São Paulo (SP) today passed a law on “technological trash” (lixo tecnológico) that is likely to have a significant impact on the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) product and component business in Brazil. SP is Brazil’s biggest EEE market and home to much of its EEE industry, and […]

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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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    An E-Waste Bill for Santa Catarina / Projeto de Lei Sobre E-Lixo para Santa Catarina

    Thursday, September 18th, 2008

    Earlier this month a bill was introduced in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina (SC) to impose extended producer responsibility (EPR) for end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment — WEEE, e-waste or “technological trash” (lixo tecnológico) as Brazilians like to call it. SC is not the first state to attempt legislation on this subject.  Mato […]

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    First Mandatory Standby Power Label for TVs in LAC

    Monday, August 11th, 2008

    Quiz: Which is the first Latin American nation — and one of the few in the world at this point — that requires all new television sets with cathode ray tubes (CRTs) — whether locally made or imported — to bear a labeling disclosing to the consumer the standby power rating for the set? Answer: […]

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    Getting a Handle on E-Waste Data in LAC: Argentina

    Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

    The Data Problem One of the key challenges in formulating a reasonable and effective policy on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is figuring out how much there is, what type of WEEE it is (different WEEE pose different hazardous material/waste management challenges), and what is happening to […]

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    Mato Grosso’s E-Waste Law / A Lei de Mato Grosso Sobre E-lixo

    Sunday, June 1st, 2008

    Last month, while The Temas Blog was still on hiatus, the central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso (MT) became the first Latin American jurisdiction to pass a specific law on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), or “technological trash” (lixo tecnológico) as Brazilians tend to call it.*  The new law creates a take-back regime and […]

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    Toxics in Electronics Redux: Greenpeace Responds

    Monday, October 30th, 2006

    As I noted here previously on the Temas Blog, a few weeks back Treehugger invited me to guest blog about my reservations concerning Greenpeace’s handling of its report on the testing of laptops for certain substances. My entry drew quite a few comments, including a long, detailed reply reputedly penned by the scientist who did […]

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