This report from BBC Online (by John Andrew, BBC local government correspondent) reports that councils in England could soon be allowed to charge residents for the amount of rubbish they throw away. But what effect have “pay as you throw” systems had in other countries? When I visited the Flanders …
Mais »USA – San Francisco garbage & recycling trucks go green
Even garbage in San Francisco is going green – with the announcement that the city‘‘s entire fleet of garbage and recycling trucks are running on alternative fuel. CBS reports that as of March 19, more than 400 garbage collection vehicles were running on alternative fuels, according to Norcal Waste System …
Mais »Europa não pode mais jogar pneus em aterros e quer exportá-los para o Brasil
O lobby pela regulamentação da importação de resíduos sólidos vem também de fora do país. A União Européia tem interesse em se desfazer de seus pneus usados, já que uma lei proíbe que eles sejam depositados em aterros sanitários. E está usando a Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC) para pressionar …
Mais »USA – beer waste may become ethanol
In the USA, Monroe County officials are developing a plan with High Falls Brewery Co. to turn beer waste into ethanol and produce enough of it to power much of the county‘‘s fleet of vehicles. If all goes well, the county hopes to have extra available to offer ethanol-based fuel …
Mais »USA – food waste getting new life at Chico State University
The ends of carrots from salads, food scraps from vegetables in tacos, coffee grounds, soggy lettuce, and beets and peas from the residence hall food service all have a new life under a programme by a collaboration of departments at Chico State University, Caifornia, according to a report in the …
Mais »Canada – study confirms need to improve consumer battery recovery and recycling
Environment Canada (a major Government agency) has released the Canadian Consumer Battery Baseline Study, which reveals that the annual number of consumer batteries discarded is increasing dramatically, releasing a growing amount of dangerous substances into land and water. The Study provides the first national estimates of the amount of heavy …
Mais »Canada – Toronto to levy new tax on trash
The City of Toronto is preparing to introduce a new garbage tax that would apply equally to every property in the city, regardless of its assessed value. The Toronto The Globe and Mail reports that although not designed to raise new revenue, the waste-disposal levy will radically alter the way …
Mais »Italy – apple paper invention set to bring benefits
Italian inventor Alberto Volcan has created a type of paper made from apples and through regional funding has expanded to other office products as well. While the engineer from northern Italy has already supplied regional offices with 60,000 envelopes and 7,000 notepads made out of his apple-paper, the Italian news …
Mais »Scotland – review of kerbside recycling schemes identify factors delivering high recyclate recovery
Scottish local authorities have made significant progress in increasing recycling rates, and achieving the 25% by 2006 target. However one important factor to achieve 40% and beyond, will be the need to improve the recovery rates from kerbside recycling collections. Remade Scotland have published the results of an investigation into …
Mais »Até matar mosquito passou a ser crime: erro ou brincadeira!
Até matar mosquito passou a ser crime: erro ou brincadeira! Luciano Pizzatto (*) Esperei alguns meses da publicação da IN 109/06, em 04/08/2006 pelo IBAMA, na esperança de ver corrigido texto tão equivocado, que com certeza não pode estar afirmando o que está escrito, mas que de fato tenta transformar …
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