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RECYCLING

Sister Cities Recycling Partenership

Proposed For

Pedreira City, Sao Paulo County, Brazil

and

Prince George's County, Maryland

The Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy (Center) is proposing a Sister City partnership between Pedreira City, located in São Paulo County, Brazil and Prince George's County, located just outside of Washington, D.C. The principle basis for the partnership will be a mentor/protege recycling program and a parallel environmental education program. Secondary partnership activities will include English and Portuguese education and sports. The partnership will promote soccer in Prince George's County and baseball and football in Pedreira.

Pedreira currently produces 25 tons of trash per year and the local population is still unfamiliar with separating trash from reuseable materials. Pedreira City seeks to develop strong recycling and environmental education programs in order for the community to have a program to protect their environment. Some materials previously thrown into the sanitary landfill are now being recycled, but it is not sufficient to reduce the waste. Pedreira City is seeking professionals that can help to organize the collection and reprocessing of recyclable materials, the dissemination educational information to the public and training programs.

The Center will promote this Sister Cities Program between Pedreira City (PC) and Prince George's County (PGC) in order to fulfill our commitment to 'think globally and act locally.' The Center was contacted by a representative of Pedreira's Selective Collection agency and we agreed to work together to promote a Sister City Recycling program between Pedreira City and Prince George's County. Pedreira city is a small city with approximately 40,000 people and many of its inhabitants are ready to work for a better world and environment. Prince George's County has about 900,000 inhabitants.

PG County Executive Jack Johnson Planting Flowers For Livable Communities Program

Children Planting a Tree in Pedreira City

Prince George's County operates its recycling program through the Department of Environmental Resources (DER). The Waste Management Program (WMP) provides refuse collection service to approximately 158,000 homes in the County.and the Recycling Program (RP) provides curbside recycling collection for over 167,000 County residents and citizens. County homeowners pay a fee for recycling and other waste management programs through the Solid Waste Charge that appears on property tax bills. Recycling keeps Prince George's County clean and healthy, is easy, saves energy and is good for the environment. By placing recycling materials in bin/cart at the curb once a week on a regularly scheduled collection day, residents help reduce the amount of trash that is disposed of at the landfill.

Pedreira City also wants American english teachers and baseball and football coaches to create a municipal exchange program for kids age 7 to 11 in Pedreira and Prince George's County. Such a sports program in Pedreira would make it the first county/city in Brazil to have these sports in its territory. The Center will examine the feasibility of developing such a program to complement the PC/PGC partnership. The Prince George's Sports and Learning Center is a state-of-the-art recreation and education facility near the Fed Ex Football Stadium. Perhaps the Department of Education and the owner of the Washington Redskins could assist with cooperative programs for english language instruction and stadium recycling demonstrations. Pedreira can promote soccer and Prince George's County can promote American football as part of the partnership. Pedreira can also provide instruction in Portuguese for interested residents of Prince George's County. Portuguese is a common language in Brazil and would benefit anyone interested in exploring ethanol from sugarcane or other business activities.

Pedreira is very interested in being a sister city . They are looking for a sister that can help in developing programs focusing English Language for middle and basic schools and experiences in environmental protection and conservation. Pedreira is ready to promote exchanges between students and teachers to add on new culture and learning processes. Pedreira, as part of Brazil, is also a great place for learning Portuguese Language and the love of soccer. Pedreira will work with Prince George's County to promote soccer in the United States.

In addition to warm Brazilian hospitality, the borough has excellent programs that benefit its citizens in exploring nature, culture, and environmental studies. Pedreira has in place innovative programs in public administration and social works. Pedreira is located close to Campinas City, the host of one of the major Brazil Universities and clinic hospitals. This proximity makes Pedreira a convenient place for students to live. The Borough of Pedreira has covenants with this university and others.

Pedreira is rich in natural beauty and is working hard to protect the environment by developing programs to reduce and reuse recyclable materials. Pedreira is interested in sharing this type of program information with a city in a country that is active in the area. Some information about Pedreira is written below.

Pedreira is a municipality/county in the state of  São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2006 was 39,937 and the area is 110.72 km². The elevation is 590 m.

Aerial View of Pedreira and the Jaguari River

The Mother tongue is Portuguese. The town is located at 138 km from the capital. It is called "Flor da Porcelana" because of its porcelain related commerce. Pedreira was founded in 1896. It lines the Jaguari River banks, which adds a touch of beauty to the mountains around it.

The name of the town comes from the name "Pedro", present in the most male members of the founder's family, Colonel João Pedro de Godoy Moreira. Pedreira offers as main attractions its large porcelain, glass, wood crafts, aluminium, decoration pieces manufacturing with shops specializing in tourist service.

Currently, the predominant economic activity in the city is related to industrial production of ceramics and porcelain, although there are many companies operating in the plastic processing, textiles and food sectors. Due to a concentration of wholesalers who supply the region, Pedreira generates an influx of tourists and shoppers, reinforcing and developing the municipality’s tourist potential.

There are more than 150 shops established in strategic places, with easy access for visitors, and extended hours of operation weekends and holidays.

Pedreira Municipal Hearing	Pedreira Municipal Meeting	Pedreira Equestrian Sports

Pedreira has interests in growing its tourism industry and gaining the econmomic benefit from it. Pedreira is located close to the biggest University in the region, UNICAMP. This strong healthcare institution attracts students and patients from all over Latin America. Several of its hospitals and specialized clinics are among the best in Brazil, such as the huge State University of Campinas Clinics Hospital, Instituto Penido Burnier, Centro Infantil Domingos Boldrini and many others. There are also many Colleges and Universities around Pedreira City.

Pedreira is on the São Paulo plateau, in the transition area to the Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range. It has an excellent climate throughout the year, characterized by mostly sunny and hot days (more than 200 days in the year), a mild temperature range (average yearly temperature of 22.4 degrees Celsius, ranging from an average minimum of 7.2 degrees to a maximum of 35.9 degrees) and a constant regime of cool winds. Due to this, Pedreira has little air pollution and smog. Thanks to a regular rain regimen, the region's vegetation is evergreen.

The wet season is from mid-October to mid-June, with heavier rains particularly in January and February, and the dry season is from mid-May to mid-September. Average rainfall is 24.3 mm in August and 267.8 mm in January. Average humidity ranges from 37% (August) to 56% (January).

In the region around Pedreira near the state of Minas Gerais there are a number of cities enjoying an even milder mountain climate, such as Atibaia, Aguas de Lindóia, Amparo, Monte Alegre, Serra Negra, Socorro where several water spas are located.

The mountain region around Pedreira offers travel opportunities with nature and the surrounding natural landscapes.

Pedreira’s coordinates: 22º44’31”S, 46º54’05” W

Prince Georges County has a total area of 498 square miles, 846,123 people, 286,610 households, 198,047 families residing in the county and 308,929 housing units. (U.S. Census Bureau)

The racial makeup of the county is:

• 63% African American
• 27% White
• 7 Hispanic or Latino
• 4% Asian
• 3 Other races
• 3% Two or More of any race
• 0.35% Native American
• 0.06% Pacific Islander

Prince George's County has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

• Royal Bafokeng Nation, South Africa
• Rishon LeZion, Israel
• Ziquinchor, Senegal

The mission of the Department of Environmental Resources is to respond to the needs of the public by improving the quality of life through the enhancement and cultivation of the natural and created environment. DER works with the County Executive's Livable Communities Initiative (LCI) to provide healthy, safe, and clean communities for the citizens and residents of Prince George's County.

Jack Johnson	County Executive	Prince George's County Council	Recycling Office