Central America & Caribbean

Costa Rica

Costa Rica has the most advanced disposal system in the group: per the World Bank, 67.5% of its MSW goes to sanitary landfills with gas capture and 9.1% to open dumps. It is the only country in the group with tire EPR in operation, through Compliance Units registered in SINIGIR. No recent official figure for annual tire generation was found.

Regulatory framework

The rules that shape the business

Ley 8839 2010 In force

Ley para la Gestión Integral de Residuos

Published 13 Jul 2010 (La Gaceta 135). Establishes extended producer responsibility (art. 5.b): producers and importers of goods whose waste is declared 'special-handling' must run take-back or deposit-return programs (art. 42). The hierarchy allows co-processing and energy recovery, giving priority to material recovery (art. 4.d).

View regulation · ucr.ac.cr

Decreto Ejecutivo 38272-S 2014 In force

Reglamento para la Declaratoria de Residuos de Manejo Especial

Declares used tires a special-handling waste, which triggers EPR under art. 42 of Law 8839. Producers and importers must comply through 'Compliance Units' registered in SINIGIR, which file an annual report.

View regulation · prosic.ucr.ac.cr

Decreto Ejecutivo 41525-S 2018 In force

Reglamento para el trámite digital de registros y autorizaciones del Ministerio de Salud en la gestión integral de residuos (SINIGIR)

Moves to SINIGIR the registration of authorized waste managers and EPR Compliance Units (5-year validity, annual report due 30 March) and amends Decree 38272-S.

View regulation · faolex.fao.org

Decreto Ejecutivo 33745-S 2007 In force

Reglamento sobre Llantas de Desecho

Sellers must take back used tires, and manufacturers and importers must deliver them to authorized treatment sites, with a management plan and logbook. Allowed treatments are cement-kiln fuel, crumb rubber, asphalt aggregate, power generation and 'other processes approved' by the Ministry of Health; pyrolysis would fit under that last route.

View regulation · binasss.sa.cr

Decreto Ejecutivo 38933-S 2015 In force

Criterios ambientales para la compra de llantas por parte de la Administración Pública

Public entities may buy tires only from importers or producers enrolled in a Compliance Unit and must track recovery by authorized managers.

View regulation · faolex.fao.org

Decreto Ejecutivo 24824-S 1995 In force según texto consultado

Prohíbe la importación de llantas usadas

Bans imports of used tires of any kind, including retreads, on public-health grounds (dengue).

View regulation · binasss.sa.cr

Context

The residue, in figures

1.460.000

MSW generation (tonnes/year)

c. 2010-2016 (What a Waste 2.0, publ. 2018) · datacatalogfiles.worldbank.org

9,1

MSW sent to open dumps (%)

c. 2010-2016 (What a Waste 2.0, publ. 2018) · datacatalogfiles.worldbank.org

67,5

MSW to sanitary landfill with gas system (%)

c. 2010-2016 (What a Waste 2.0, publ. 2018) · datacatalogfiles.worldbank.org

Incentives

Law 8839 (arts. 20-21) provides for state support to waste-management SMEs and cooperatives. Specific tax incentives for renewable energy or biomass and the domestic carbon market were not verified in this research.

Which technology fits Costa Rica

Priority feedstock: End-of-life tires (EPR Compliance Units); agro-industrial and forestry residues for biochar
Why: Tire EPR already requires importers and producers to contract authorized managers, so a pyrolysis plant approved by the Ministry of Health (via 'other processes', Decree 33745-S art. 7) has regulated customers. Carbonization fits the Law 8839 hierarchy, which favors material recovery.

PYR

Pyrolysis

From end-of-life tires to products with a market.

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Carbonization

Biochar to a controlled specification from biomass.

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Sources consulted

Reference information compiled from public sources as of October 2026. It is not legal advice; confirm each regulation is current before making decisions.

Verification level: High

Other countries in the region

Panama Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Dominican Republic

Projects and proposals

Tell us what residue you have and what you want to obtain.

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