Chile—The EPR Law (Extended Producer Responsibility) seeks to reduce waste and promote its reuse, recycling, and other types of recovery. Five years after its publication, the Ministry of the Environment, in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank, seeks to gather information to incorporate new products to the six already regulated, through an international consortium represented in Chile by Valoryza. Our partner, Enrique Benítez, along with other Dentons Larraín Rencoret lawyers, will be part of the process. If Chile adds textiles products to this law, the country would be a pioneer in the region and worldwide regarding the waste management of these materials.

Clothing, medicines, and fishing articles could be part of the EPR Law in the future, in addition to the six already regulated today: lubricating oil, batteries, electrical and electronic, tires, containers and packaging, and batteries; as recently announced by the Ministry of the Environment. How is the incorporation of these elements to the extended producer responsibility determined? The Ministry and the Inter-American Development Bank convened a group of experts to carry out an evaluation study that seeks to determine whether these elements, among others, could be incorporated into the regulations. Dentons Larraín Rencoret, through its partner Enrique Benítez, will be part of this process, coordinated by Valoryza.

The study seeks to identify additional products to the six already regulated in the EPR law, to conduct an international analysis of the EPR models associated with these products in operation in other countries, and to describe the national market for the selected products and their respective residues in order to determine those with the potential to be a priority product in Chile. The study is part of the cooperation project "Inclusive Circular Economy in the Pacific Alliance" in line with the Circular Economy Roadmap, a national policy launched this year that establishes seven sustainable goals for 2040.

Enrique Benítez, partner at Dentons' Santiago office and part of the study, explained: "This study is highly relevant since the EPR law has changed the focus on waste management, not only at the business level but also at the citizenship. Circular economy offers a wide range of possibilities, such as the generation of energy from waste, and also a series of regulatory challenges for the government and companies". The study will be conducted until May 2022.

Today several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, where Chilean legislation is recognized as one of the most complete and avant-garde, have guidelines on Extended Producer Responsibility. The products incorporated to date respond to a linear conception of the economy, while the management of products as textiles obeys to a more circular view of it, in which few countries have ventured. Even in Europe, only France has implemented a national policy regarding clothing, and the requirement will be obligatory within the European Community only as of 2025, therefore, Chile, by incorporating this element in the EPR law, would be at the forefront of this type of legislation, not only in the region, but also worldwide.

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