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 […]
Oaxaca Gets a Comprehensive Waste Law
Friday, June 5th, 2009The legislature of the Mexican state of Oaxaca (OX) just sent the governor a gift for World Environment Day: a comprehensive state solid waste law. Since Mexico adopted its federal General Law for the Prevention and Integrated Management of Wastes in 2003, the Federal District (DF) and many states have adopted their own general waste […]
Minas’ New State Waste Law Features Take-Back
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Last week the governor of Minas Gerais (MG) signed the State Solid Waste Policy Law. The Law’s 57 articles establish the principles, guidelines, goals and instruments for the correct management of waste, and defines the obligations of different waste generators and the users of urban sanitation services. Minas is not the first Brazilian state to […]
Trash Photos XIV: From Used Tires to Furniture
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009I’ve mentioned here in the past my constant struggle with having more to blog about than I have time to blog, and the resulting build-up of a long backlog queue of post drafts, some of them dating back to the early days of The Temas Blog. This post, I am ashamed to admit, is one […]
ADS Quiere Cambios en Ley Sobre Reciclaje de Neumáticos
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008Desde la Autoridad de Desperdicios Solidos (ADS): URGEN CAMBIOS A LA “LEY DE MANEJO DE NEUMÁTICOS” En Puerto Rico se desechan alrededor de 18,000 neumáticos diarios (aproximadamente 4.7 millones anuales), los cuales son generados por las 3,400 gomeras registradas alrededor de la isla. La mayoría de los neumáticos son recogidos, procesados, exportados y reciclados por […]
Mexico City Formally Implements Its Waste Law…Finally!
Friday, October 10th, 2008This week Mexico’s Federal District (DF) — the zone encompassing Mexico City and its environs — published the implementing regulation for its 2003 Waste Law — five years later than called for by the Law. Although the lack of an implementing does not stop a law from being applied and programs being launched (and the […]
Trinidad & Tobago Opts for Systematic Recycling
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008In the 2009 Budget Statement presented Monday by Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheria to the parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, the government announced that (surprise! surprise!) it is finally abandoning the Environment Management Authority’s (EMA) ten year-old proposal for a law creating a beverage container deposit-return system, and will instead is opting for a comprehensive waste […]
A Solid Waste Plan for Costa Rica
Friday, July 18th, 2008Recently Costa Rica was presented its long-awaited Solid Waste Plan (PRESOL) by the entities belonging to the Inter-Institutional Platform of the Competitiveness and Environment Program (CYMA): the Health Ministry (MinSalud), the Planning Ministry (Mideplan), the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), the Institute for Municipal Development and Advice (Instituto de Fomento y Asesoria Municipal – […]
Tire Mountains as a Border Issue
Monday, July 14th, 2008If you you’re not a waste specialist (“garbologist”) or waste nut (like me), then you might have missed this one or not understood its significance even if you did hear of it. End-of-life (EOL) tires — called “scrap tires” by industry but often referred to as “waste tires” by regulators — have bedeviled environmental authorities […]
Bahia to Adopt Paraná’s Zero Waste Program Model
Saturday, October 13th, 2007I’ve mentioned here several times the innovative Zero Waste Program (Programa Desperdício Zero) of the southern Brazilian state Paraná, such as how it applies to glass recycling, pesticide packaging, aseptic packaging and finding new ways to reuse/recycle plastic (PET) bottles (such as building solar water heaters). At some point I should do a comprehensive post […]
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