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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’s PAC for Sanitation

    Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

    When Brazil’s multifaceted Program for Accelerated Growth (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento – PAC) was announced in 2007, it included a segment earmarked for improving infrastructure in provision of drinking water and sanitation services. Today the head of the Civil House, Dilma Rousseff, and the Minister of Cities, Márcio Fortes, announced a list of 109 […]

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    More Progress on P2R2 in Brazil

    Monday, August 3rd, 2009

    Earlier this year I posted about how slowly Brazil’s states were taking up their role under the National Plan for the Prevention of, Preparation for and Response to Environmental Emergencies Involving Hazardous Chemicals Products (“P2R2”), and more recently about Environment Ministry (MMA) efforts to move things along. Now comes some new signs of movement among […]

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    An E-Waste Bill for Bahia

    Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

    I’m on vacation in the Caribbean, with limited internet access (and a damaged laptop) and in any case supposedly ignoring my inbox and not posting.  But I peeked at the web version of my inbox using a relative’s laptop and, seeing a note on this, could not resist a quick post. It shows something I […]

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    Recycling Ozone-Depleting Substances

    Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

    This week the Regeneration and Recycling Center of the Northeast (Centro de Regeneração e Reciclagem do Nordeste – CRN) will be inaugurated  in the capital of Pernambuco state, Recife. The principal purpose of the CRN is to collect, purify and recycle chlorofluorocarbon 12 (CFC-12), primarily taken from old refrigerators.  The Center can also regenerate other […]

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    Caixa Creates Label for Sustainable Housing

    Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

    Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF, popularly known among Brazilians as simply “Caixa”), Latin America’s largest public bank, is already involved in promoting green building though its insistence on construction using certified wood and its concessionary financing for the installation of the solar panels and water heaters in Brazil’s recently announced “My House My Life” Program to […]

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    Brazil Invests in International Research Cooperation on Second Generation Biofuels

    Friday, May 29th, 2009

    Brazil will invest R$11.6 million (about US$ million at current exchange rates) in international research cooperation regarding second-generation biofuels with the 27 member states and the many associate states of the European Union (EU).  A request for proposals from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) calls for projects that develop new production […]

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    An E-Waste Bill for Pernambuco

    Friday, May 22nd, 2009

    The 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, […]

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    Pesticide Residue Levels in Brazilian Food

    Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

    Which 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 […]

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    Brazil Increases Pesticide Packaging Take-Back

    Saturday, March 28th, 2009

    I’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 […]

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