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Making small beautiful - lessons from Mexican leather tanneries and brick kilns
01.06.2000
This article presents case studies of efforts to control pollution from two small-scale industries notorious for their pollution in Mexico: leather tanneries and brick kilns. The case studies demonstrate that although there are considerable obstacles to regulating small enterprises, innovative pollution control policies can be effective. The article distils lessons regarding the necessity of political accommodation, the drivers of clean technological change, the critical role of trade associations and neighbourhood organizations, the promise of private-sector led initiatives, the practicality (or otherwise) of boycotting dirty small firms, and the importance of developing policies that are location-specific.