Decree 402-26: What Plastic Producers and Importers Must Comply With in the Dominican Republic

What Is Decree 402-26 and Why It Matters Now

In June 2026, the Executive Branch of the Dominican Republic published Decree 402-26, which approves the General Regulations for the Implementation of Extended Producer, Importer, and Distributor Responsibility for Priority Products. With this instrument, the country takes a formal step toward a model in which whoever places a product on the market also assumes responsibility for its complete life cycle, including the stage at which that product becomes waste.

If your company manufactures, imports, or distributes plastic packaging and containers in Dominican territory, this decree applies directly to you. It is not a statement of intent: it establishes obligations, deadlines, and consequences for non-compliance. Understanding what it requires is the first step toward acting before the deadlines become a problem.

What Is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Extended Producer Responsibility is an environmental policy principle that shifts part of the responsibility for post-consumer waste management to the manufacturer or importer of the product, rather than leaving it exclusively in the hands of the State or the end consumer. Under this principle, whoever designs and sells a plastic container has an active duty to ensure that container is collected, sorted, and recovered at the end of its useful life.

Decree 402-26 converts that principle into a legal obligation in the Dominican Republic. The priority products to which it applies include plastic packaging and containers, among other categories. If your product falls under that definition, the regulations require you to act.

Who Is Obligated by the Decree

The regulations apply to three types of actors:

• Producers: companies that manufacture in Dominican territory products or containers that fall within the priority categories.
• Importers: companies that bring into the country products packaged or wrapped in materials included within the scope of the regulations.
• Distributors: in certain cases, those who place products on the market under their own brand or when the original producer or importer is not identified.

If you import products in plastic containers or manufacture locally using that type of packaging, you likely fall into one of these categories. Specific doubts about whether your operation falls within the scope of the decree should be addressed with specialized legal counsel, as the text establishes thresholds and technical definitions that may vary depending on volume and product type.

What the Decree Specifically Requires

Decree 402-26 establishes a set of operational obligations. The most relevant ones for plastic producers and importers are the following:

Registration with the Competent Authority

Obligated companies must register in the registry maintained by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. Without that registration, it is not possible to operate within the EPR system framework or certify compliance. Registration is a prerequisite for any other action.

Submission of a Waste Management Plan

Once registered, companies must prepare and submit a plan describing how they will meet their collection and recovery targets. This plan must detail the mechanisms they will use: whether they will operate their own individual system, join a Collective Extended Responsibility System (SCRE by its Spanish acronym), or contract authorized operators.

Collection and Recovery Targets

The regulations establish that obligated parties must achieve progressive collection and recovery targets for the waste generated by the products they place on the market. These targets are expressed as percentages of the volume marketed and increase over time, which means that the sooner the system is structured, the easier it is to meet those targets in subsequent years.

Annual Compliance Report

Each year, obligated companies must submit a report to the authority certifying compliance with their targets. That report must be supported by verifiable documentation: collection records, contracts with authorized operators, and recovery certificates.

Financial Contribution to the System

Those who choose to join a collective system must make financial contributions that fund collection, sorting, and recovery operations. The amount is determined based on the volume of product placed on the market.

What Are Collective Extended Responsibility Systems (SCRE)

Not all companies have the capacity to operate their own collection and recovery system. For those cases, the decree provides for the Collective System: a structure in which several obligated companies pool their responsibility and delegate it to a specialized organization that operates on behalf of all of them.

Joining a SCRE recognized by the Ministry is one of the most straightforward paths to compliance for medium and large companies that do not want to—or cannot—build their own infrastructure. The key is that the SCRE you join works with duly authorized recovery operators, because that is the condition for the processed tonnage to count as actual compliance.

What Happens If You Do Not Comply

The decree includes a penalty regime for those who fail to meet their obligations. Consequences may include administrative fines, suspension of operating permits, and disqualification from importing. Furthermore, non-compliance is recorded, which can create problems with corporate clients, distribution chains, or business partners that already have their own sustainability commitments.

Beyond formal sanctions, market pressure also counts: institutional buyers and large retail chains are incorporating environmental traceability criteria into their purchasing processes. Being unable to certify EPR compliance can translate into lost business.

Where to Start If the Decree Applies to You

If you have identified that your company falls within the scope of Decree 402-26, these are the logical steps:

• Verify your classification: confirm with legal counsel whether your products and volumes place you as an obligated party, and in which category.
• Register with the Ministry of Environment: without registration, compliance is not possible.
• Define your compliance model: individual system, joining a SCRE, or a combination of both.
• Identify authorized operators: if you are going to contract recovery directly, make sure the operator holds the permits required by the decree, because only waste processed by recognized operators counts toward your targets.
• Establish a record-keeping and traceability system: you need to document every tonne collected and recovered in order to submit the annual report.

The Role of the Recovery Operator in EPR Compliance

A critical part of the system is recovery: the process by which collected plastic waste is transformed back into usable raw material. Without effective recovery, collection does not close the cycle and targets are not met.

At Scrapmen Recycling Group we specialize precisely in that stage: the purchase, processing, and recovery of post-industrial and post-consumer plastic waste in the Dominican Republic. If your company is evaluating how to structure its compliance under Decree 402-26, working with an authorized local recovery operator is one of the pieces you need to have in place. You can contact us to explore how we integrate our operation into your waste management plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the decree apply to small companies or only to large industries?

The regulations establish thresholds and categories that determine who is obligated. Not all companies that use plastic in their packaging are automatically included: it depends on the type of product, the volume they place on the market, and their role in the chain (producer, importer, or distributor). To determine whether your company falls within the scope, the safest approach is to review the text of the decree with specialized legal support.

Can I comply without building my own collection system?

Yes. The decree provides for joining Collective Extended Responsibility Systems (SCRE), which allow several companies to share the infrastructure and costs of collection and recovery. You can also contract authorized operators directly. The condition in both cases is that the parties you work with are recognized by the Ministry of Environment, since only then does the processed waste count toward your compliance targets.

What documents do I need for the annual report?

The report must verifiably certify the tonnes of waste collected and recovered. This means having collection records, contracts or agreements with authorized operators, and recovery certificates indicating the type of material and the volume processed. The sooner you establish that traceability system, the easier it will be to consolidate the information at the close of the reporting period.