Since 2022, BVRio has been following the negotiation process inside the UN to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment – a Global Plastic Treaty. In August in Geneva we participated in the INC 5.2 (the second part of the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee), which […]
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As part of its efforts to strengthen inclusive waste recovery solutions in Brazil, BVRio is supporting cooperatives with targeted infrastructure improvements and training. One such initiative is the installation of a new vertical baler at Coopama, a waste cooperative supported by BVRio through the ‘Cooperate to Recycle’ project, with funding from Petrobras’ socio-environmental programme. Located […]
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By Thierry Sanders, Founder, of Kolekt Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is gaining traction globally as a vital policy tool to tackle the growing challenge of waste management. The principle is simple yet powerful: the companies that introduce products and packaging into the market should bear the financial and/or physical responsibility for their post-consumer fate. For […]
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By Kolekt Director, Thierry Sanders. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, designed to make manufacturers shoulder the burden of managing their products’ post-consumer fate, are increasingly seen as a vital tool in the fight against the global waste crisis. Yet, in many emerging economies, an unlikely antagonist is undermining their effectiveness: Value Added Tax (VAT). This seemingly innocuous […]
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Whose Rubbish Is It Anyway? The Battle for Control of Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations. By Kolekt Director, Thierry Sanders. The bins overflow, the landfills bulge, and the tide of discarded packaging, electronics, and textiles continues to rise. In response, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – a system holding producers accountable for the post-consumer fate of their […]
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The global spotlight on national waste legislation is intensifying, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) stands at the forefront. EPR offers a compelling solution for financing sustainable waste management, embodying the ‘polluter pays’ principle. Simply put, EPR mandates that producers, importers, and brands take responsibility for the lifecycle of their products, either by directly managing waste […]
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Two of the nine waste cooperatives that BVRio is supporting in service improvements have started to receive critical logistics upgrades, including new collection trucks and equipment, and training to digitise waste flow, part of a capacity-building project funded by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. Since the beginning of this project phase in August 2024, […]
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Work has concluded on a study to establish if a digital waste management solution could improve waste collection and recycling in Southern Africa. The study, and pilot roll-out of the KOLEKT digital waste management app, was conducted in Mozambique with funding provided by the European Union Africa RISE (Reform for Investment and Sustainable Economies) programme, […]
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Next week, BVRio will be in Nairobi participating in the UNEP Third Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) meeting, which aims to develop an international legally binding instrument – a Global Treaty – on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. As a long term advocate for, and developer of, solutions which support and include informal waste […]
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Over the last 18 months in Brazil, Vietnam and Mozambique, informal waste pickers have been using smartphone technology to coordinate the sale of recyclable waste, resulting in increased income for themselves and improved recycling rates in the cities where they operate. There are an estimated 20+ million informal waste pickers in the world, living mostly […]
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