Chile’s lead environmental agency, the National Environmental Commission (Conama), has drafted a new policy to upgrade management of the nation’s fast-growing flow of solid waste. Conama Executive Director Paulina Saball says the policy is “more than a mere declaration of intentions,” promising the government will commit to specific short-term deadlines and a medium-term work plan. The new policy likely will be voted on by Conama’s governing body, the Council of Ministers, in December or January, according to Jorge Troncoso, Conama’s pollution-control director. Troncoso says the policy seeks to address solid-waste-management weaknesses in all 12 regions of Chile. The country’s solid-waste stream is growing at a 5% annual rate that within 10 years will require the country to double... [Log in to read more]