Subscribe to My Feed
Loading ...A Computer Waste Bill for Rio Grande do Sul
Friday, October 2nd, 2009A 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 […]
A New Twist to Recyclables for Electricity Programs
Monday, September 21st, 2009I’ve posted in the past about innovative Brazilian programs in the states of Ceará (CE), Mato Grosso (MT) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) to get people to turn in recyclables in exchange for getting a reduction in their monthly electric power bill. One of the programs I liked was Consciência EcoAmpla, run by Endesa‘s subsidiary […]
Rio Adopts Law on Used Oil and Motor Oil Filters
Friday, September 18th, 2009The governor of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state today signed a law regarding the final disposition of used lubricating oils and their filters. The new law, rather short and simple, does four things: limits the sale of lubricating oils to those establishments equipped with “an adequate area” and “necessary specific equipment” for the collection of […]
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 […]
A Regional Waste Exchange for Central America
Monday, August 3rd, 2009For years I’ve advocated establishing and heavily promoting subregional (or in the case of huge and diverse market of Brazil, at least a national) waste exchanges as one way to promote more reuse and recycling and to minimize wastage. It certainly makes more sense than national waste exchanges, particularly in the case of a collection […]
Another Momentum Indicator on Used Motor Oil Packaging in Brazil?
Friday, July 24th, 2009A couple of months ago I wondered aloud if maybe a bill introduced in São Paulo‘s (SP) state assembly was an early indicator of a momentum shift in the hitherto slow-building movement in Brazil to promote the collection and recycling of the packaging that the new motor oil comes in. Now comes another curious indicator. […]
An E-Waste Bill for Bahia
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009I’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 […]
From Used Balloons and Gloves to New Rubber Products
Sunday, July 5th, 2009Researchers from the Forest Products Laboratory (LPF) of Brazil’s Forestry Service (SFB) have demonstrated that they can recycle used latex gloves and party balloons by combining them with sawdust, in the process turning them into floor tiles, shoe soles, floor mats and other rubber artifacts. The cost of producing a floor sheet from these wastes […]
Ceará Adopts Lamp and Battery Take-Back Law
Friday, June 19th, 2009Yesterday the governor of the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará (CE) signed a law that would require the take-back of fluorescent lamps, batteries and piles. The very brief and simple law requires vendors of such products in the state to provide collection bins on their premises for consumers to drop off those at the end […]
Trash Photos XVIII: Fluorescent Lamp Collection in Brasilia
Thursday, June 18th, 2009I’m in Brasilia now, and had some time between meetings, so I wandered through Patio Brasil, one of the shopping centers here. If times allows, I like to wander through shopping centers in the cities that I visit. I do it not so much for actual shopping or even window-shopping in the usual sense, but […]