Page 66 - Plastics News June 2026

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

for plastic beverage bottles. Businesses that erage bottles must also contain a minimum per-
supply packaging, beverage bottles or food centage of plastic collected and recycled within
service products to the Chilean market are now Chile. The recycled content requirement begins
expected to meet stricter requirements on re- at 15% and will increase in stages over time. One
cycled content, traceability and reusable pack- of the biggest changes affects the food service
aging.The country’s Ministry of the Environment sector. Restaurants, cafés and food courts are
(MMA) is actively implementing Decree No. 30, no longer allowed to provide single-use cups,
the regulation that gives practical effect to Law plates, bowls, cutlery, straws or lids for custom-
No. 21.368 on single-use plastics and plastic bev- ers eating on the premises. Reusable items are
erage packaging. Rather than introducing new now the standard. For takeaway and delivery
policy goals, the decree sets out the technical orders, disposable packaging remains possi-
rules businesses must follow and how compli- ble, but only under strict conditions. Single-use
ance will be monitored. For packaging manufac- packaging can only be supplied if the customer
turers and brand owners, the message is clear: requests it, and plastic items must be certified
products must not only meet sustainability tar- rather than made from conventional fossil fuel-
gets but also provide evidence that they do. based plastic. To qualify, certified plastics must
contain a minimum level of renewable raw mate-
The regulation also introduces stronger con- rials, meet compostability standards under both
trols for plastic beverage bottles.
home and industrial conditions, and carry pre-
Supermarkets and large beverage retailers must scribed labelling. Every certified product must
allocate at least 30% of their beverage shelf display a certificate number together with infor-
space to returnable bottles and accept empty mation about its compostability.
returnable containers from consumers. The aim
is to increase the use of refillable packaging and
reduce packaging waste. Disposable plastic bev-

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68 PLASTICS NEWS June 2026