Roadmap for a circular Chile by 2040

The circular economy constitutes a profound change in the forms of production and consumption. It raises the need to leave behind the linear take-make-use- waste logic to move towards a model in which waste and pollution are eliminated from the design stage, products and materials that enter the economic cycle stay in it for as long as possible or even indefinitely, and economic processes regenerate natural systems instead of degrading them.

To accelerate the country’s transition towards this model, in 2019, the MMA, in conjunction with MINECON, CORFO and the ASCC initiated the elaboration process of a circular economy roadmap for Chile.

A Strategic Committee composed of 33 actors from different spheres of society – the public sector, the private sector, civil society, and academia – actively participated in the development of the roadmap. Also, an International Advisory Committee collaborated through the process, providing technical advice during its development.

The participatory process of construction of the roadmap included several phases. In the first, diagnostic phase, which began in 2019, two studies of the potential of the circular economy in the country were commissioned; four regional early participation workshops were held; and a series of interviews with key stakeholders and two online surveys were conducted to complement the analysis. In May 2020, the Strategic Committee began to meet to, first, develop a shared long-term vision, and, later, design the strategy and

the action plan to achieve it. In this second phase, 11 thematic tables were set up, in which more than a hundred people from different spheres participated with the aim of raising ideas and proposals around different topics. Based on this work, a roadmap proposal was written and published in December 2020 for public consultation. And, based on the analysis of more than 500 observations to that proposal received during the public consultation period, the present final version of the roadmap was written.

The vision of this roadmap is that, by 2040, a regenerative circular economy will drive Chile towards a sustainable, fair and participatory development that puts people’s well-being at the centre; this, through the care of nature and its living beings, the responsible and efficient management of natural resources, and a society that uses, consumes and produces in a sustainable and conscious way, promoting the creation of green jobs and opportunities for people and organizations throughout the country.

To guide and evaluate progress in the transition, a set of long-term goals has been established for 2040, with intermediate goals for 2030.