Chile signals mandatory awareness about recycling potential
On January 21, 2022, Chile published the determination decision to start the elaboration of a decree to regulate the instrument intended to prevent waste generation and promote waste recovery.
The future Decree will focus on household products, especially food, personal hygiene, and cleaning products. The labeling of the articles above must display the information on the components, composition, and instructions for recycling.
It also foresees the creation of a voluntary certification program for household packing when meeting specific recyclability criteria. The Decree will be closely related to Decree 12/2020, responsible for setting Chile's packing collection and recovery goals.
To obtain the recyclability seal, manufacturers must observe:
- that at least 80% of the weight of the container is made of technically recyclable materials;
- that the materials can be separated from the rest of the container; and
- that there is currently demand
from the recycling industry for these materials.
The initial committee is formed by governmental, industrial, academia and NGOs’ representatives. The working group has five months to come up with a draft decree.
