Chile’s EPR law and batteries: the guide every producer should read

By the EcoBaterías technical teamPublished August 12, 2026Updated October 9, 2026Reviewed by the EPR compliance lead

Chile’s Extended Producer Responsibility law (Ley REP, Law No. 20,920) is in force and requires producers to finance the collection and recovery of their products, but large batteries still have no targets: they will be set by a decree the Ministry of the Environment must propose before January 29, 2027. What is enforceable today is handling end-of-life batteries as hazardous waste, with a licensed manager and documented traceability.

Updated October 9, 2026 · Reviewed by the EcoBaterías technical team.

What already binds you, before any target

One misreading is expensive: assuming that with no published targets there is nothing to do. Chile’s Extended Producer Responsibility law (Ley REP, Law No. 20,920) has been in force since 2016 and sets the principle: whoever places a priority product on the Chilean market finances and organizes its collection and recovery once it becomes waste. What is missing for large batteries are the numerical targets, not the framework. The full framework is developed in the complete guide to Chile’s EPR law for batteries.

In parallel runs an obligation that is enforceable today and depends on no future decree: an end-of-life lithium battery is handled as hazardous waste unless a characterization shows otherwise. Supreme Decree (DS) 148/2003 subjects it to storage, transport and reporting rules, and requires a management plan from anyone generating more than 12 metric tons of hazardous waste per year (or more than 12 kg of acutely toxic waste). Handing it to someone who is not authorized is not a shortcut: it is the part of the file that cannot be rebuilt afterwards.

So the useful question is not “when does this apply to me?” but “can I document today where each batch ended up?” The criteria for choosing a receiver are in how to recognize a licensed lithium battery waste manager.

What already has targets: DS 22/2025

Supreme Decree (DS) 22/2025 was published on May 7, 2026 and its targets become enforceable 24 months later, that is, from May 2028. It covers batteries, electrical and electronic equipment and photovoltaic modules. If your company imports consumer electronics or solar panels, your calendar is already fixed.

Swipe to see the full table

Source: DS 22/2025, Ministry of the Environment, Diario Oficial (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-18

One point is easy to miss: for photovoltaics the targets are measured against the estimated waste of the year, not against what was placed on the market. The detail, with the full calendar, is in Supreme Decree (DS) 22/2025 and the solar panel targets.

The battery decree: what the draft proposes

The draft supreme decree on batteries was approved by Res. Ex. 821/2026 on February 16, 2026 and was open for public consultation from February 25 to April 9, 2026, drawing 451 comments and 33 international queries. That volume explains the later revision of the text: Res. Ex. 4,225/2026, dated July 29, 2026, extended the Ministry of the Environment’s deadline to propose the decree to January 29, 2027.

Everything that follows is therefore a proposal and may change. It is cited because it shows the direction of travel, not because it binds.

Swipe to see the full table

Source: draft battery decree, Ministry of the Environment (Res. Ex. 821/2026) (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-18

One nuance in the lithium-ion target deserves a second reading: the draft proposes that at least 30% of the target be met through preparation for reuse, not through recycling. In operational terms, part of compliance will require testing packs and deciding which can serve again, instead of sending them straight to the mill. That is exactly what lithium battery testing, pack refurbishment and second-life batteries are for.

The other proposed duties, beyond the targets

The draft does not stop at percentages. It assigns concrete tasks along the chain:

• Annual report (Art. 40). Before May 31, through the single window of the RETC (Chile’s pollutant release and transfer register), for industrial consumers and for storage installations above 1 MWh.
• Retailers (Art. 26). Free take-back at stores larger than 400 m² that sell batteries.
• Vehicle workshops (Art. 29). Collective management systems must collect at workshops, which sign up in a free register; this mostly affects lead-acid and hybrid and electric vehicle flows.
• Collection points (Art. 28). A minimum network set by each municipality’s population.
• Exemptions (Art. 5). Micro-enterprises under Law No. 20,416 and anyone placing less than 600 kg per year on the market.

Source: draft battery decree, Ministry of the Environment (Res. Ex. 821/2026) (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-18

What arriving late actually costs

Enforcement risk exists and sits in the law itself, but it is rarely what hurts most. The three costs we see most often are different. The first is capacity: the Chilean market is small and lithium-ion recycling barely exists yet, so anyone going out to contract in the same month the target becomes enforceable will be competing for scarce capacity. The second is the file: traceability cannot be rebuilt backwards; if the batch left without a waybill and without a certificate, there is no way to evidence it later. The third is physical: badly stored lithium batteries are a fire risk, and insurers know it.

• 1,100 tof lithium-ion battery waste estimated for 2026 in Chile
• 44,400 tof lead-acid battery waste estimated for 2026
• ≈0%of lithium-ion batteries are recycled in Chile today
• 2027-01-29Ministry of the Environment deadline to propose the battery decree

Source: regulatory impact assessment of the draft battery decree, Ministry of the Environment (Res. Ex. 821/2026) (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-18

How to prepare without waiting for the decree

1. Map the flow. Which chemistries and formats leave your operation, in what annual volume and from which sites. Without that figure, any quote is guesswork.
2. Sort by route, not by warehouse. Whatever can be repaired or reused is tested before a decision is made; whatever has no possible use goes to recovery. That split is what could later count towards the preparation-for-reuse fraction, if the final decree keeps that rule.
3. Formalize collection. Licensed hazardous-waste transport, a waybill per batch, a SIDREP filing (Chile’s national hazardous-waste declaration and tracking system) and weighing on intake. This is the link where traceability is most often lost; the step-by-step process is on battery collection and transport.
4. Keep the paperwork. Each batch gets its valorization certificate, issued by the authorized receiving facility, with the associated traceability: that is the document that backs the report.

If you still do not know where to hand over the material, the route map is in where to recycle lithium batteries in Chile; for company batches, in lithium battery recycling for companies, with recycling managed with authorized receiving facilities at 22 UF per tonne plus VAT (19%); the UF is Chile’s inflation-indexed accounting unit. And if you want the market context behind these figures, it is in the Chilean market for batteries and critical minerals.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Library of the National Congress of Chile, Law No. 20,920, framework for waste management and extended producer responsibility (opens in a new tab).
• Ministry of the Environment, DS 22/2025, published in the Diario Oficial (opens in a new tab) on May 7, 2026.
• Ministry of the Environment, draft supreme decree on batteries and its regulatory impact assessment (Res. Ex. 821/2026) (opens in a new tab), with the extension granted by Res. Ex. 4,225/2026 (opens in a new tab).
• Library of the National Congress of Chile, Hazardous waste management regulation, Supreme Decree (DS) 148/2003 (opens in a new tab), arts. 25 and 31.
• Publishable figures and their attribution: datos/estadisticas.json by EcoBaterías, cut-off 2026-09-18.