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Directional Signals in Brazilian Federal Waste Policy
Monday, August 17th, 2009A 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 National [...]
Ecological Cities as Economic Cities
Saturday, June 27th, 2009From 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 cities create [...]
Upcycling Raffia Sacks
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009Ortigueira 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 innovative [...]
New Movement on Recycling Used Motor Oil Packaging in Brazil?
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009Last 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 [...]
An E-Waste Bill for Pernambuco
Friday, May 22nd, 2009The northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco may go the way of its southern sister state, Paraná, regarding computer-related waste. A bill was just introduced in Pernambuco’s state assembly that appears patterned after Paraná’s Law adopted last year.
It would require producers, distributors and vendors of “informatic equipment” to create and maintain programs for their recovery, [...]
Paraná Adopts Take-Back Law for Mercury-Containing Products
Saturday, April 18th, 2009Earlier 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 premises for [...]
Pesticide Residue Levels in Brazilian Food
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009Which fresh food sold in Brazil has been found most likely to present “irregular” pesticide residues — levels higher than those permitted by regulation, or even residues of pesticides banned or not authorized for use on the foodstuff it is found on?
Peppers. In 2008 more than 64% of the pepper samples analyzed by the National [...]
Brazil Increases Pesticide Packaging Take-Back
Saturday, March 28th, 2009I’ve posted before on The Temas Blog (here, here and here) about Brazil’s amazingly successful program at recovering used pesticide packaging, which is achieving recovery rates higher than in many OECD nations.
Well folks, Brazil continues to improve on this front: the National Institute for Processing Empty Packaging (inpEV), the industry-appointed group solely in charge of [...]
Paraná Looks at Generating Employment from Waste
Thursday, March 19th, 2009I wish all states did this.
The Environment Secretariat (SEMA) of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná met on Tuesday and Wednesday (17-18 March) with the environment authorities of 70 municipalities in the North and North Pioneer regions of the state, and today and tomorrow will meet with municipal officials from the rest of the state. [...]
Update: Easier Buying Recycled
Friday, March 6th, 2009Parana’s public entities will finally get their recycled paper products.
A few months ago I posted about the problems the southern Brazilian state was experiencing in its pioneering efforts to stimulate recycling by requiring all state agencies, entities and offices to buy only paper products with high recycled post-consumer fiber content (50%).
A November 2007 law said [...]