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    A Computer Waste Bill for Rio Grande do Sul

    Friday, October 2nd, 2009

    A bill on information technology (IT) waste has been introduced in the state legislative of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) that is similar to a law adopted in 2008 by its neighbor, Paraná. The bill would require producers, distributors and vendors of “informatic equipment” to create and maintain programs for […]

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    More Brazilian States Opt for Smoke-Free Environments

    Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

    The push for smoke-free environments continues to march across Brazilian states — how long before federal legislators decide to extend such protections nationwide? Today the governors of the southern state of Paraná (PR) and the western state of Amazonas (AM) signed new tobacco control laws, joining Ceará (CE), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and São Paulo […]

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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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    Brazil Preparing New National Wind Atlas

    Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

    Agência Brasil reports that Eletrobrás‘ Energy Research Center (Centro de Pesquisas de Energia – Cepel) is preparing a new national wind atlas for release in late 2010.  Researchers feel that the existing wind atlas, prepared in 2001, may have greatly underestimated Brazil’s potential for electricity generation through wind.  At that time, the potential was estimated […]

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    BNDES Finances Stem Cell Research Centers / BNDES apoia a centros de pesquisa com células-tronco

    Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

    From the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES): BNDES approves R$ 6.6 million in financing to stem-cell research centers The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) approved financial support in the amount of R$ 6.6 million to two projects related to the Brazilian Network for Cell Therapy. The non-reimbursable funding is from the BNDES Technology Fund (BNDES Funtec) and […]

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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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    Brazil Begins Awarding Building Efficiency Labels

    Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

    Earlier this year I posted about Brazil’s trailblazing initiative to provide energy efficiency labels for buildings.  Well, the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro) has just announced that first five Brazilian buildings were given the labels in the form of steel plaques about the size of an A4 sheet of printing paper.  […]

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    Ecological Cities as Economic Cities

    Saturday, June 27th, 2009

    From the World Bank: New Urban Development Program to Promote Ecologically Sustainable and Economically Viable Cities The World Bank today launched a new urban development program that supports cities in developing countries in their move towards greater ecological and economic sustainability. Called Eco² Cities – Ecological Cities as Economic Cities, the program recognizes that successful […]

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    Upcycling Raffia Sacks

    Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

    Ortigueira is a small municipality (about 24,000) in the rural interior of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná (PR), about 200 kilometers from the state capital.  Until recently it was perhaps best known as the city with lowest human development index (HDI)* ranking for the state. Now it’s becoming known as a center of an […]

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    New Movement on Recycling Used Motor Oil Packaging in Brazil?

    Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

    Last year I posted about (slow-building) momentum in Brazil to collect and recycle the packaging that the new motor oil comes in, starting originally in 2003 in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) as a preemptive move by an industry group* and then expanded to Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in 2005, Paraná (PR) in 2007 and […]

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