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 […]
A Bill to Require EIAs Before Packaging Drinks in Plastic
Saturday, May 30th, 2009Last year in a post about efforts in Brazil to stop the sale of beer in PET bottles, I explored some of the possible ramifications of an April 2008 rejection by a federal judge of all challenges to a 2002 ruling that brewers wishing to bottle their beer in PET or any other plastic must […]
New Movement on Recycling Used Motor Oil Packaging in Brazil?
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009Last year I posted about (slow-building) momentum in Brazil to collect and recycle the packaging that the new motor oil comes in, starting originally in 2003 in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) as a preemptive move by an industry group* and then expanded to Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in 2005, Paraná (PR) in 2007 and […]
Salvadorian Industry Initiative Recovers 2178 Tons of Plastic Waste in 2008
Friday, April 3rd, 2009El Salvador’s Environment Ministry (MARN) and Health Ministry (MSPAS) just recognized the efforts of a local industry initiative known as Reciplast, which in 2008 recovered 2,178.3 metric tons (mT) of plastic waste. What is Reciplast? It owes its existence in part to MARN and MSPAS. In 2001 MARN and MSPAS launched a National Program for […]
Brazil Increases Pesticide Packaging Take-Back
Saturday, March 28th, 2009I’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 […]
Giving LAC’s First Plastic Packaging Law Teeth
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007An interesting thing happened over the last two weeks. Well, interesting to people like me who’ve been following the packaging waste debate for decades, at least. Environment enforcement officials for Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state “blitzed” supermarkets in Rio de Janeiro city — first on 19 October in the well-to-do Leblon section, then on 23 […]
AmBev Opens Huge Recycling Center
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007Synopsis in English: The Brazil-based beverage giant, Beverage Company of the Americas (AmBev), has just inaugurated a huge recycling center in Rio de Janeiro state. AmBev is the largest beverage producer in Brazil, one of the largest in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the largest bottler of Pepsi outside the US, and the fifth […]
Morelos Gets a Comprehensive Waste Law
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007The central Mexican state of Morelos (home of Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata) just adopted its own 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 laws, or else amended […]