Chile's EPR Law (Law 20,920)

Law 20,920, known in Chile as the Ley REP or recycling law, sets the framework for waste management, extended producer responsibility and the promotion of recycling. It was enacted on 17 May 2016 and published in the Official Gazette on 1 June 2016.

Under article 1, its purpose is to reduce waste generation and encourage reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery, through extended producer responsibility and other management instruments, in order to protect human health and the environment.

What extended producer responsibility means

Article 9 defines it as a special waste management regime under which producers of priority products are responsible for organising and financing the management of the waste from the priority products they place on the Chilean market. The cost of treating the waste no longer falls solely on the municipality or the consumer, and shifts to whoever puts the product on the market.

Who counts as a producer

The law defines the producer regardless of the sales technique. A producer is anyone who:

• Sells a priority product for the first time on the domestic market.
• Sells under their own brand a priority product acquired from a third party that is not the first distributor.
• Imports a priority product for their own professional use.

Packaging has a specific rule: the producer is whoever places the packaged or wrapped consumer good on the market, not whoever manufactures the packaging. That rule is what pulls thousands of companies that never saw themselves as part of the waste sector into the obligation.

The six priority products

Article 10 sets the starting list, which the Ministry of the Environment can expand by supreme decree:

• Lubricating oils
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Batteries (vehicle type)
• Packaging and wrapping
• Tyres
• Cells and portable batteries

Extended producer responsibility is not triggered by appearing on the list, but by the issuing of the supreme decree setting targets and associated obligations for that product. Until then, producers only have to declare annually to the RETC the quantities placed on the market.

Status of the target decrees

Newspapers, journals and magazines are treated as priority products not subject to targets or associated obligations: their producers are only bound by the duty to report under article 11.

Collection and recovery targets

Targets are set by supreme decree of the Ministry of the Environment and are established in relation to the quantity of priority products each producer places on the domestic market, applying the principles of gradualism and the waste hierarchy. Decrees may differentiate targets on demographic, geographic and connectivity grounds, and must be reviewed at least every five years.

Alongside targets, decrees may impose associated obligations: labelling, information to distributors and consumers including the waste management fee, communication strategies, waste prevention measures, separate collection at source, limits on hazardous substances, ecodesign requirements, and the design and operation of reception and storage facilities.

Producer obligations

Article 9 lists four duties:

1. Register in the registry kept within the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (RETC).
2. Organise and finance the collection of waste across the entire national territory, along with its storage, transport and treatment, through a management system. This duty is enforceable from the entry into force of the relevant target decree.
3. Meet the targets and associated obligations within the deadlines, proportions and conditions of the relevant decree.
4. Ensure that management is carried out by authorised and registered waste managers.

Management systems

Obligations are met through a management system, individual or collective. Collective systems must be set up as legal entities that do not distribute profits among their members, with the exclusive purpose of managing priority product waste. Every system needs authorisation from the Ministry of the Environment after submitting a management plan through the RETC, and must tender waste management services openly.

Enforcement and penalties

The Superintendency of the Environment enforces target compliance, the functioning of management systems and information duties. Penalties range from written warnings to fines of up to ten thousand annual tax units for very serious infringements, five thousand for serious ones and one thousand for minor ones.

Frequently asked questions

Is my company a producer under the EPR Law?

Yes, if you place a priority product on the Chilean market for the first time, sell it under your own brand having bought it from someone who is not the first distributor, or import it for your own professional use. If you sell packaged or wrapped goods, you are too: for packaging, the producer is whoever places the packaged good on the market.

When do real obligations start?

When the target decree for your priority product comes into force. Before that, the only duty is the annual RETC declaration of quantities placed on the market.

Can I comply on my own without joining a collective system?

Yes. The law allows individual management systems, which can contract directly with authorised and registered waste managers. In practice most producers join a collective system.

Where are filings made?

Everything runs through the RETC: producer registration, quantity declarations, the system's management plan, and the progress and final reports on target compliance.

To work out whether it applies to you and what to do step by step, read our practical EPR Law guide for companies. At Manglai we help organise the waste and placed-on-market data these filings require. Start with our waste management solution.