Chile's RETC and its Single Window

The Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (Registro de Emisiones y Transferencias de Contaminantes, RETC) is the public database of Chile's Ministry of the Environment for capturing, compiling, systematising, storing, analysing and publishing information on emissions, waste and pollutant transfers generated by industrial and non-industrial activities, or transferred for recovery or disposal.

Its legal basis is article 70(p) of Law 19,300 on General Environmental Principles, and it is governed by Supreme Decree No. 1 of 2013 of the Ministry of the Environment, published on 2 May 2013 and amended by a decree published on 11 December 2018.

The part that matters most in a company's daily life is the Single Window: article 17 of the regulation states that entities required to register and report must do so only through the single window of the RETC's electronic portal. There is no alternative route.

Who must file

Article 18 of the regulation lists the parties required to report through the Single Window system. The groups with the widest practical reach are:

• Establishments required to report emissions, waste or transfer information to other State bodies under an emission standard, an environmental qualification resolution, a prevention or decontamination plan, or the relevant sectoral rules.
• Establishments that must be classified as an emitting or generating source, or as a waste recipient.
• Establishments that generate more than 12 tonnes of waste a year, municipalities and waste recipients.
• Producers of priority products, management systems, waste managers, retailers, distributors and industrial consumers under the EPR Law.
• Establishments subject to the green tax on stationary sources under article 8 of Law 20,780.
• Importers, producers, distributors and retailers of products containing pollutants or substances whose reporting is required by a regulation or a treaty ratified by Chile.

The Single Window's sectoral systems

The Single Window brings together filings that used to live in separate portals. These are the sectoral systems available:

Alongside those mandatory systems sits the voluntary carbon footprint sectoral system, which is the entry point to the HuellaChile programme. Having only voluntary systems in your profile does not create mandatory reporting duties.

Deadlines

Each sectoral system has its own calendar, and it is worth checking the portal every year because some have moved. The deadlines set by the regulation itself are these:

• Waste generators: establishments generating more than 12 tonnes a year of waste not covered by specific regulations file by 30 March each year the waste generated the previous year.
• Waste recipients receiving more than 12 tonnes a year: same date, 30 March.
• Municipalities: before 30 March each year.

The regulation also requires establishments to report corporate changes (change of company name, of representatives, transformation, merger, absorption, demerger and change of the designated officer) within a period not exceeding six months, and cessation of operations within a maximum of 15 working days.

Why the RETC will matter more each year

Article 41 of Law 21,455, the Climate Change Framework Law, provides that establishments required to file through the RETC Single Window must report their greenhouse gas and short-lived climate forcer emissions annually, with the scope to be set by a regulation. Article 45 refers penalties to the Superintendency of the Environment.

In August 2025 the Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change approved an update to the RETC regulation incorporating that emissions reporting, with the intention of channelling it through the HuellaChile platform. It is worth tracking: once in force, the RETC will stop being only a local pollutant register and will also become the channel for the corporate emissions inventory.

Frequently asked questions

Who runs the RETC?

The Ministry of the Environment, under article 70(p) of Law 19,300 and Supreme Decree No. 1 of 2013.

Does my company have to register?

Yes, if it generates more than 12 tonnes of waste a year, already reports emissions, waste or discharges to a State body, is a producer of a priority product under the EPR Law, or is subject to the green tax on stationary sources.

How do you get access?

You register the establishment in the Single Window portal and log in with ClaveÚnica, once the legal representative has approved the request.

Is the RETC public?

Yes. It is a publicly accessible database, and the Ministry publishes an annual Consolidated Report on Emissions and Transfers of Pollutants.

The real difficulty with the RETC is rarely the form. It is gathering data scattered across plants, suppliers and spreadsheets, and being able to trace every figure back to its source document when the Superintendency asks. At Manglai we help keep that traceability. Start with our waste management solution.