Chile Reach Regulation for Various Sectors

In Chile, Law 20.920 establishes the basis to develop several areas of importance to the Circular Economy. Through the reduction of the production of waste and the promotion of reuse, recycling, and other forms of recovery, it aims to contribute to the protection of human health and the environment. In addition to its specific measures and its forthcoming implementing legislation, it sets out key principles that inspire it and towards which its development must advance. 

Said principles include, among others: 

• The polluter pays principle: whereby waste generators must bear the burden of dealing with its appropriate handling 
• The waste hierarchy: which establishes a preference order between different waste handling approaches according to their environmental impact 
• Transparency, publicity, and traceability: according to which stakeholders must be able to access information on waste management, and specific waste consignments must be traceable along the value chain

Law 20.920 is complemented by Law 21.368, regulating single-use plastics and plastic bottles, which aims at preventing waste generation by curbing the use of single-use plastic products. 

The systems foreseen under both laws will be developed and operated by Chile’s Ministry of the Environment. Supervisory functions will be performed by Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente). Where envisaged rules affect areas where other ministries are competent, the Ministry of the Environment will chair inter-ministerial committees. 

The full name of Law 20.920 is “Law establishing a framework for waste management, extended producer responsibility, and the promotion of recycling”. Being a framework law, it sets general guidelines and provides for the further development of regulations in several areas, including: 

• Ecodesign for more sustainable products 
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) 
• Requirements for waste management operators 
• Import and export of waste

The regulations developed for waste management and trade will apply to all waste, irrespective of the product category. On the other hand, the Law establishes some “Priority Products” to which the implementation of EPR will be limited in the beginning. 

The six Priority Products established in the law are the ones below: 

In addition to these Priority Products, the law empowers Chilean authorities to adopt EPR systems for other product categories, taking into account the effectiveness of EPR systems for the specific product, its volume, its hazardousness, its recovery potential, and its distribution. Authorities are also enabled to set reporting requirements relative to the quantity of a product placed on the market and waste management activities undertaken by producers. These lighter reporting requirements will apply to newspapers and magazines under the law. 

While the development of detailed actions is left to the product-specific regulations. Law 20.920 establishes the general action categories that can accompany collection and recovery targets. These requirements, known as “Associated Obligations” can be set by authorities as a means to attain the targets, rather than as end targets in themselves. Associated Obligations can relate to: 

• Labelling 
• Provision of information to distributers, retailers, waste managers, and consumers
• Communication and awareness-raising activities 
• Waste prevention activities 
• Separate collection 
• Limits on the presence of hazardous substances 
• Ecodesign 
• The establishment and maintenance of waste reception and storage facilities

Associated Obligations must be oriented to the achievement of the collection and recovery targets and relate to every product category. Therefore, the details for each Obligation will be set in the product-specific regulations.

When it comes to establishing and financing waste management systems, the law allows for the establishment of individual or collective systems. Individual systems are established and managed by one single producer, whereas collective systems involve two or more producers.

The product-specific regulations can limit the type of possible systems. Both individual and collective systems are possible under the two regulations adopted so far (packaging and tires). 

In addition to Chile’s EPR framework law, Law 21.368, regulating the delivery of single-use plastics and plastic bottles, is another important step towards Circular Economy. It seeks to protect the environment and reduce waste production through three main lines of action: 

• Imposing limits on the handing out of single-use products in food establishments
• Promoting the re-use of single-use plastics 
• Regulating disposable plastic bottles 

When food is to be consumed off-site, single-use products made from materials other than plastic can be given. Products made from “certified plastic” can also be used. Additionally, the following conditions apply: 

• Single-use products beyond food containers can only be given when the consumer asks for them. 
• Food establishments must provide information on the environmental impact of waste and on the appropriate disposal method. 

Returnable bottles, on the other hand, are those that can be industrially refilled at least five times. All establishments commercially selling bottled drinks will have to offer some products in returnable bottles, and take said bottles back from consumers. The law foresees minimum requirements for the proportion of drinks in returnable bottles offered by supermarkets. These are also to be set in the regulations developing the law, which are still to be adopted.