More Argentine WEEE Proposals
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009And the momentum for regulating e-waste keeps on building in Argentina… This week saw two bills proposed in Argentina on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE or “e-waste” or “e-scrap”) this week, one at the provincial level and the other at the federal. At the federal level, a bill was introduced in the national congress […]
Brazil to Invest R$220 mil. in Recycling / Brasil vai investir R$220 milhões em reciclagem
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009At a meeting for new mayors held this morning in Brasilia, representatives of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Socioeconomic Inclusion for Catadores (catadores is what waste pickers are known as in Brazil) that federal government investments in various recycling, selective collection and municipal waste management training projects will exceed R$ 220 million in 2009 (about US$95.6 […]
Minas Trumpets Its Waste Policy Achievements
Saturday, December 27th, 2008Minas Gerais, Brazil’s second most populous state and one of its mining, metals and agriculture powerhouses, is pretty proud of its recent accomplishments in waste policy and management. I’ve chronicled here a couple of their steps, such as the modernized inspection/enforcement regime and the creation of the Waste Reference Center (CMRR). But that only touches […]
Colombia Gets Producer Responsibility Agreement for End-of-Life Lighting
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Colombia’s Environment Ministry (MAVDT) has signed a convenant with nine of the most important lamp manufacturers and importers — Osram, Philips, GE, Havells Sylvania Colombia, Carrefour, Greenlight, Mecanelectro, Sodimac Colombia — to take charge of electrical and electronic lighting at the end of their product life. The companies agree to: Advance efforts to design and […]
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 […]
O futuro é hoje!
Thursday, September 27th, 2007It is a pleasure to welcome a second guest post by Brazilian Federal Deputy Arnaldo Jardim — for a full introduction please see his "Cidadania Ambiental." As I mentioned in that post, for those of you who cannot read Portuguese, you can always use the handy translation button in the righthand column of this blog. […]
Minas’ New Focal Point for Waste Matters
Thursday, September 27th, 2007In June the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais opened an institution that, to my knowledge, is unique in Brazil, if not the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Minas Waste Reference Center (Centro Mineiro de Referência em Resíduos – CMRR) is intended to be the state's focal point for everything and anything […]