Chile

Policy framework

National Action Plan

Chile is currently developing a national marine debris management strategy and its action plan for the period 2020-2025. This strategy aims to:

• Identify the stakeholders that directly and indirectly generate waste from ter-restrial and marine sources.
• Establish and apply voluntary and mandatory environmental management instruments to prevent the generation of marine debris at its source and re-duce its impacts.
• Encourage research and innovation for the development and refinement of new methodologies and solutions for monitoring, prevention, reuse and re-covery of marine debris.
• Build capacity and knowledge among stakeholders involved in the genera-tion and management of marine debris.
• Encourage the participation of the private sector to promote investment, trade and market creation in industries and activities that allow the preven-tion and proper management of marine debris.
• Promote international cooperation, the exchange of information at a regional and global level, and technical assistance to make progress toward reducing marine debris and its impacts.

Legal framework

Since 2016 Chile has an Extended Producer Responsibility Law (EPR). Currently, the regulation on EPR for packaging is being developed. Additionally, a law which prohibits the delivery of plastic bags by commerce was adopted in 2018, while a law which regulates single used plastics is being discussed in Parliament. In addition there is Chilean Plastics Pact, the Chilean Plastics Pact (PCP) led by Fundación Chile and the Ministry of Environment was signed in April 2019, with the purpose of rethinking the future of plastics by bringing together all actors in the value chain such as companies, public sphere and NGOs. The initiative is part of the Plastics Pact Global Network launched in 2018 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in the United Kingdom.

Indicators

• The targets on recovery of plastic packaging by EPR regulation consider progress from 3 to 45% in 12 years on household packaging and from 15 to 55% for non-household packaging.
• Prohibition on the use of plastic bags in commerce from February 2019, with exception of micro, small and medium scale companies, for which the prohibition entered into force in August 2020.

Regarding the regulation on EPR for packaging, the project includes these targets:

Targets for household packaging

Year	Food cartons	Metal	Paper and Card-board	Plastic	Glass
1st	5 %	6 %	5 %	3 %	11 %
2nd	8 %	9 %	9 %	6 %	15 %
3rd	11 %	12 %	14 %	8 %	19 %
4th	15 %	15 %	18 %	11 %	22 %
5th	19 %	17 %	23 %	14 %	26 %
6th	23 %	21 %	28 %	17 %	31 %
7th	27 %	25 %	34 %	20 %	37 %
8th	31 %	29 %	39 %	23 %	42 %
9th	36 %	32 %	45 %	27 %	47 %
10th	40 %	36 %	50 %	30 %	52 %
11th	50 %	45 %	60 %	37 %	58 %
From the 12th year	60 %	55 %	70 %	45 %	65 %

 

Targets for non-household packaging

Year	Metal	Paper and Cardboard	Plastic
1st	23 %	48 %	13 %
2nd	32 %	54 %	19 %
3rd	42 %	60 %	25 %
4th	51 %	65 %	32 %
5th	61 %	71 %	38 %
6th	64 %	74 %	42 %
7th	66 %	78 %	46 %
8th	68 %	81 %	51 %
From the 9th year	70 %	85 %	55 %

Measures

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)	Yes
Reduce single use plastic (shopping bag, strew etc.) by regulations or voluntary measures	Yes
Restrict microbeads for cosmetics etc.	No
Improve waste management recycling system	Yes
Clean-up activity at rivers and coasts	Yes
Actions on fishing gear	No
Capturing trap/filter on drainage/river	No
Promotion of innovative solutions	Yes
Multi-stakeholder involvement and awareness raising	Yes
Sharing scientific information and knowledge: R&D and Monitoring	Yes
Participate in international cooperation through international organizations, multi-national groups, etc.	Yes
Target region supported by your international cooperation initiatives/projects: Southeast Asia	Yes
Target region supported by your international cooperation initiatives/projects: Africa	No
Target region supported by your international cooperation initiatives/projects: Latin America	Yes

Prevention and reduction of plastic waste generation

Chile has implemented several plans, policies and programs to prevent the generation of plastic waste and to increase its recycling, including a campaign to prevent the use of plastic straw
(http://www.chaobombillas.cl/).

Environmentally sound waste management and cleanup of marine plastic litter

Chile has implemented several programs that together contribute to the environmentally sound management of plastic waste. These include:

• A Beach Cleaning Program.
• Construction of facilities to receive separated waste from the community. Development of the Extended Producer Responsibility Law and establishment of targets for the recovery of plastic packaging.
• Prohibition of plastic bags by commerce.
• Regulation of single-use plastics (currently in discussion in Parliament).

Promotion of innovative solutions

The Ministry of the Environment is promoting the use of Artificial Intelligence for the control and monitoring of marine debris.

Multi-stakeholder involvement and awareness raising

Chile has developed several initiatives to involve stakeholder participation and information exchange regarding marine debris. Some of these activities are:

• Communication campaigns.
• Workshops and webinars on marine debris, with a strong focus on preven-tion.
• Dissemination of international research on the subject (UNEP, OECD, etc.)
• Coordination between public agencies including the Ministry of Environment and the Chilean Navy.

Sharing scientific information and knowledge: R&D and Monitoring

Chile has encouraged the development and sharing of scientific information, specifically through activities to characterize marine debris in the South Pacific and to understand the environmental impacts that marine debris causes, especially in the sub-Antarctic zone. Chile has also developed activities to model the transport of marine debris and the inflow of this debris from land to sea.

Promotion of international cooperation

Chile actively participates in international initiatives whose purpose it is to develop mechanisms to control and prevent marine litter. These include:

• Ocean and Fisheries Working Group, APEC.
• Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastic
• Scientific Advisory Committee on Marine Litter and Microplastic
• Plastic Waste Partnership of the Basel Convention

Achievements

Prevention and reduction of plastic waste generation

In the first year of the plastic bag ban implemented in 2018, the Ministry of the Environment estimates that 2.2 billion plastic fewer bags were given to customers than in the previous year.

Promotion of international cooperation

During 2019 Chile led the development of a road map to control marine debris in the APEC region. This road map was adopted in August 2019 by the 21 APEC economies, which include China, Japan, the United States, Russia, Indonesia, etc.

Further information

https://rechile.mma.gob.cl/

http://www.chaobombillas.cl/

https://fch.cl/en/initiative/new-plastics-economy/