CHILE Law and Practice Contributed by: Pablo Méndez, Christian Rojas, Pablo Neupert and Vicente Huidobro, TM Abogados
Two additional decrees are currently under develop- ment: • Decree on Batteries and Electrical and Electronic Equipment, approved in June 2025 by the Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change and pending presidential promulgation; and • Decree on Batteries, currently undergoing public consultation. In the textile sector, the MMA issued Exempt Reso- lution No 3,914/2025, which declared textiles a new priority product, thereby extending the scope of the REP Law to a category of producers not originally cov- ered by the statute. This resolution broadens waste management obligations to textile manufacturers and importers and is complemented by the Circular Economy Strategy for Textiles to 2040, which defines specific goals and actions across four key pillars: • culture and responsible consumption; • territorial management; • regulation; and • circular innovation. Finally, Law No 21,368, on single-use plastics and plastic bottles, complements this framework by restricting disposable packaging, encouraging reuse, and setting minimum recycled content requirements for bottles. 15.2 Retention of Environmental Liability Under REP Law, producers of “priority products” (ie, packaging, tyres, lubricating oils, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, and textiles) remain responsible for the environmentally sound manage- ment of the waste generated by their products, even when they engage third parties for treatment, recovery or final disposal (Article 2 (i)). This means that delegating waste management does not entail transferring environmental responsibil- ity. Producers must ensure that waste is handled by authorised operators and in compliance with applica- ble regulations. If a contractor mismanages the waste or violates environmental rules, the competent author- ity may still hold the producer liable.
Only a formal and documented transfer of the waste to a duly authorised operator – for instance, a sani- tary landfill or treatment plant approved through an Environmental Qualification Resolution – releases the producer from further obligations, as ownership of the waste is deemed to have been transferred. 15.3 Circular Economy Requirements Not all producers in Chile are subject to end-of-life product management obligations, but only those whose product categories have been expressly des- ignated as priority products under the REP Law. To meet collection and recovery targets and related obligations, the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) may establish, through Supreme Decrees, specific requirements on labelling, eco-design, waste preven- tion measures and restrictions on hazardous sub- stances in products, among others (Article 8 of the REP Law). As a result, the supreme decrees referenced in 15.1 Key Laws and Regulatory Controls establish specific obligations for each category of priority product under the REP Law. When these products reach the end of their useful life, producers may be required to organ- ise or finance their collection, recovery or recycling through individual or collective management systems. These obligations apply when the product falls within a category declared as a priority product, subject to specific targets and requirements established by min- isterial decree. In the case of plastics, Law No 21,368 on single-use plastics and plastic bottles requires that disposable bottles contain a minimum percentage of domestically recycled material and promotes the use of returnable containers (Article 7). These percentages are to be determined by regulation, which is currently pending publication (the draft regulation sets them out in Arti- cle 10). 15.4 Rights and Obligations Applicable to Waste Operators Rights and obligations of waste operators in Chile are established in the REP Law, between waste genera- tors, waste managers, importers/exporters of waste, and management systems.
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