El Salvador Waste Management

The regulation will increase the demand for waste containment units, technologies, and related products and services, creating an opportunity for U.S. suppliers.

On December 1st, 2023, a new regulation was issued to implement the law on waste management and recycling promotion that was issued in 2020. The purpose of this law is to ensure the safe use and final disposal of waste to protect people’s health and the environment, and to promote a circular economy.

The new regulation encourages the development and acquisition of technologies, methods, and practices that can help minimize waste, promote waste utilization, and establish actions to recover sites that have been used as open dumps. One of the measures taken is that municipalities, housing developments, neighborhoods, shopping malls, markets, and similar sites should separate waste and contain it in specific units, each assigned a designated color as follows: green for usable organic waste, white for inorganic waste, and black for non-usable organic and inorganic waste, which is meant for final disposal. Furthermore, the regulation states that reusable waste can only be imported if it serves as raw materials for new consumer products.

The regulation will go into effect on December 9th, 2023.  A copy of the regulation is available in El Salvador’s  Official Gazette. Date of Publication: December 1st, 2023.

For more information, contact the U.S. Commercial Service Office in San Salvador at office.sansalvador@trade.gov