Argentine Senate bill proposes extended producer responsibility for packaging

A bill introduced in the Argentine Senate by Senator Edith Terenzi would create a national extended producer responsibility regime for domestic and imported packaging. Companies first placing packaged products on the Argentine market would have to organise and fund recovery and recycling through collective management systems or deposit-return schemes. Fines would range from 100 to 1,000 times a public-sector minimum salary, up to about ARS 577m. The bill has not been passed.

Why this mattersA national EPR law would make Argentine packaging producers and importers fund collection and recycling, adding cost and reporting duties for brand owners.

• Senator Edith Terenzi's bill revives a proposal first filed in the Chamber of Deputies by former deputy Carlos González D'Alessandro
• Scope covers packaging made in Argentina and imported, plus disposable trays, plates and cups used to sell food and drink; export packaging is excluded
• Two compliance routes: non-profit producer consortia (Integrated Management Systems) and deposit, return and refund systems
• Article 24 sets fines of 100 to 1,000 minimum salaries of the national public administration's basic entry grade
• Argentina generates about 16.5 million tonnes of waste a year, and 34.4% is handled through open dumps or controlled landfills, the bill states

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