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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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    Brazil to Build Tobacco Testing Lab for Latin America / Brasil vai construir laboratório

    Monday, September 21st, 2009

    Brazil’s National Sanitary Vigilance Agency (Anvisa) announced today that in 2010 it will construct a Control Laboratory for Tobacco-Derived Products on Ilha do Fundão, the artifical island home to “University City” and the Federal University of RJ (UFRJ) in the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. The R$8 million Laboratory will be the reference center for […]

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    A New Twist to Recyclables for Electricity Programs

    Monday, September 21st, 2009

    I’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 […]

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    Rio Adopts Law on Used Oil and Motor Oil Filters

    Friday, September 18th, 2009

    The 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 […]

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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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    Brazil Launches Unparalled Study of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

    Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

    Diseases of the circulatory system are the leading cause of death in Brazil. According to the Health Ministry (MS) there are 300,000 deaths and over one million hospitalizations per year, and hypertension and diabetes mellitus are major risk factors. Hypertension affects approximately 35% of the Brazilian population over the age of 40 years and of […]

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    A Smokeless Rio?

    Monday, August 17th, 2009

    If you’ve ever been to Rio de Janeiro (RJ), you know that it’s not exactly a nonsmoker’s paradise.  Despite all the health warnings and studies issued over the years, quite a bit of smoking still occurs in public places within the state. Not for much longer. Or at least that’s the stated legislative intent of […]

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    Toward Brazilian Environmental Norms for Electro-Electronics

    Saturday, August 15th, 2009

    Several jurisdictions in Brazil — most notably the States of São Paulo (SP) and Mato Grosso (MT), and the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro (MRJ) — have recently adopted e-waste laws, and several states look interested in following suit (here, here and here). There’s rumors that the National Environment Council (CONAMA) will soon decide to […]

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    Toward an ISO Energy Management Standard

    Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

    Last week in Rio de Janeiro and yesterday in São Paulo, Eletrobrás and the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) co-hosted workshops to try to get Brazilian business more actively involved in the process now underway in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to develop an international standard for energy management, ISO 50001.  One of […]

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