Facing climate change Circular economy

Chilean Plastics Pact

This is a public-private initiative that seeks, in collaboration with the entire value chain (companies, the public sector, and NGOs), to help the country transition toward a circular economy for plastics by rethinking the way this material is produced, used, and disposed of.

Visit the Pact website

Context

Why is it necessary to move toward a circular economy for plastics?

Plastics are essential materials for multiple productive sectors and for daily life. However, the predominant linear model of producing, using, and discarding has generated significant environmental, economic, and social challenges, including waste generation, the loss of valuable resources, and the pollution of ecosystems.

Addressing these challenges requires coordinated action across the entire value chain. No single actor can solve the existing gaps in design, collection, recovery, infrastructure, regulation, innovation, and citizen behavior on their own.

In this context, the Chilean Plastics Pact emerged as a voluntary collaboration platform that drives systemic solutions to accelerate the transition toward a circular economy for plastics, aligned with international commitments promoted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the global Plastics Pact network.

Objectives

What does the Chilean Plastics Pact seek to achieve?

The Pact seeks to mobilize the various actors in the ecosystem to move toward a circular economy for plastics through concrete, measurable, and collaborative actions.

To this end, it works toward five common goals:

Take action to reduce unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging and products.
Ensure that 90% of plastic packaging and products are designed to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
Ensure that 33% of plastic packaging is effectively recycled and establish the enabling conditions for large-scale reuse and composting.
Achieve an average of 25% recycled material incorporated into plastic packaging and products.
Increase the level of knowledge and the adoption of habits associated with the circular economy of plastics among citizens.

In addition, the Pact promotes spaces for coordination, knowledge generation, innovation, collaborative pilots, and the dissemination of best practices that contribute to the fulfillment of these goals.

Impact

What results does it seek to generate?

The Chilean Plastics Pact seeks to accelerate concrete changes in the plastics ecosystem in Chile, contributing to:

Reducing the generation of unnecessary or problematic plastic waste.

Increasing the circularity of plastic packaging and products present in the market.

Driving design for circularity and the incorporation of recycled material.

Strengthening the capacities of companies, institutions, and municipalities to implement circular solutions.

Generating evidence, tools, and roadmaps that support public and private decision-making.

Promoting cultural changes and citizen habits that favor the reduction, reuse, and recycling of plastics.

Governance

More than 50 organizations from across the plastics value chain, including resin producers, packaging manufacturers, consumer brands, retailers, recyclers, waste managers, trade associations, academia, civil society organizations, and public entities.