Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has sent Congress a national solid-waste management bill, the first ever proposed by the executive branch, to break a years-long congressional stalemate on the issue. Though the bill appears to have won impressive early support from stakeholders and legislators, its deliberate lack of crucial details will likely prompt special-interest battling over implementation if the measure is enacted. The new bill represents an attempt to clear a logjam that has left Brazil with no nationwide solid-waste-management rules aside from norms issued by an environmental regulatory body regarding disposal of used tires, batteries and construction waste. Since 1991, lawmakers have introduced nearly 100 solid-waste-management bills in Congress, but the measures typically founder amid... [Log in to read more]