Amapá Adopts a Recycling Policy
Friday, August 1st, 2008In early July Governor Waldez Góes signed a law creating a State Materials Recycling Policy. The new Law is based on similar measures adopted by several other Brazilian states, including Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rondônia. It seeks to promote and provide incentives to the commercialization and industrial utilization of used […]
Uruguay Gets Its GEO
Friday, July 25th, 2008Earlier this month Uruguay’s GEO was finally unveiled with much fanfare by top Uruguayan environment officials and the local representative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). What’s a GEO? It’s probably the best known type of comprehensive environmental diagnosis available. “GEO” was the acronym for “Global Environment Outlook” first prepared by the in the […]
Paraná’s E-Waste Law / A Lei de Paraná Sobre E-lixo
Thursday, July 24th, 2008Last month the southern Brazilian state of Paraná adopted a law requiring manufacturers, distributors and vendors of “informatics” equipment operating in that state to set up a system for the recovery, recycling or destruction of their end-of-life (EOL) products that “does not pollute the environment.” “Informatics” is not defined in the law, but in Latin […]
Colombia’s First Eco-Certified Hotel
Sunday, July 13th, 2008Synopsis in English: Colombia’s Environment Ministry (MAVDT) has officially delivered to Hotel Puerta del Sol in Barranquilla the first Environmental Seal ever awarded to a hotel. The Environmental Seal is Colombia’s official ecolabel, created by decree in 2005. So far award criteria have been concluded for only two categories: lodging and cleaning products. For a […]
Cidadania Ambiental
Thursday, September 20th, 2007It is an honor and pleasure to introduce this guest poster. Arnaldo Jardim is a civil engineer with many years of public service in Brazil, first in state executive posts (including Housing Secretary) and then as a State Deputy in São Paulo (SP), and currently as a Federal Deputy. While State Deputy he headed the […]
Sao Paulo’s Green Cities Program Launched / Lançamento do Projeto Município Verde de São Paulo
Saturday, July 21st, 2007Synopsis in English: São Paulo State’s governor, José Serra, and Environment Secretary, Xico Graziano, recently announced the formal launch of the “Green City” project promised as part of the Governor’s package of 21 strategic environmental measures. By early July, 393 of SP’s 645 cities had already signed onto the program’s protocol of 10 commitments, covering […]
Better Solid Waste Management in Argentine Tourism Cities
Friday, June 8th, 2007Temas Observation: This program has been needed in Argentina for some time, and I can think of a few other LAC nations with municipalities that serve as key tourism destinations that could use a similar program (IBD, take note). From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): IDB approves US$60 million loan for solid waste management in […]
Helping Colombia Improve Environmental Management and Meet Its MDGs
Friday, June 8th, 2007From the World Bank: Colombia: World Bank Approves US$200 Million for Sustainable Development The World Bank’s Board of Directors today approved a US$200 million loan to Colombia in order to integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs, which seek to protect the poor from the impacts of environmental degradation, particularly in […]
Brazil: Feds Provide Regulatory Guidance on C&D Wastes
Wednesday, February 14th, 2007Synopsis in English: Brazil’s Ministries of Environment (MMA) and Cities (MCidades) has just released a “manual” providing regulatory guidance on the management of “civil construction and voluminous wastes” — more often known elsewhere as construction and demolition (C&D) wastes — and their sorting, recycling and disposal. Ostensively the two Ministries jointly developed the manual to […]
São Paulo Requires Use of Recycled Construction Materials / Uso de entulho reciclado torna-se obrigatório em São Paulo
Saturday, December 30th, 2006Synopsis in English: The new Mayor of the Municipality of São Paulo (MSP) has signed a decree making it mandatory for contractors providing paving services in the mega-city of over 11 million (and 588 sq. mi. of area) to utilize recycled materials — i.e., recovered construction and demolition (C&D) wastes. MSP generates about 17,000 metric […]
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