Recycling area: new housing complexes must designate one

It is the law requiring physical space to recycle inside new housing complexes in Puerto Rico. It is not an abstract "you must recycle" law: it is a design and permitting law, which makes the recovery area a requirement of the construction plans. That is why compliance is overseen at the permitting stage, and non-compliance is penalized against whoever designs or develops, not against the resident.

Residents of housing complexes — apartments or residences, public or private — whose construction began or was carried out from July 1, 2003. Those bound are the architect or engineer contracted by the developer, who designates the area, and the developer, who provides the access infrastructure and records it in the plans.

• That it be a new housing complex construction project, public or private, begun or carried out from July 1, 2003.Verified against the official source
• For collection at access-controlled complexes: that the hauler identify themselves, a collection agreement exist with the residents represented by the Council of Owners, and dates and times be established.Verified against the official source

• The complex’s construction plans: the law requires them to contain the area designated for recyclable material recovery, as an indispensable condition for granting the construction permit.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check whether your complex is covered

   The law applies to every new housing complex construction project, public or private, whether apartments or residences, begun or carried out from July 1, 2003. If your building predates that date, this design requirement did not apply when it was built — which does not stop the Council of Owners from agreeing on a recycling program on its own.

2. 2

   Step 2: Know which materials the law contemplates

   In the area various containers shall be placed, provided by the company contracted for collection and hauling, where residents will place materials individually by container as identified. Among the materials to be recycled, without limiting recovery to these, are glass, plastic, paper, cardboard and aluminum — unless a legal prohibition exists on recovering certain materials this way, such as used oil and discarded tires.

3. 3

   Step 3: If there is access control, the truck must be able to get in

   This is the point that resolves the most common friction in gated condominiums: for housing complexes with access control, these haulers must be allowed in, as long as they identify themselves and a collection agreement exists between the hauling company and the residents, represented by the Council of Owners, and the dates and times for collecting the recyclable materials have been set in advance. The three conditions go together.

4. 4

   Step 4: Under horizontal property, the area is a general common element

   Where the complex is subject to the Horizontal Property Act, its provisions apply, especially as to selecting the recyclable material hauling company or companies. And the law classifies the space: the recyclable material recovery area shall be considered a general common element, since it will be built on the complex’s grounds. That classification matters because it places the area and its use under the regime’s rules and the Council of Owners.

5. 5

   Step 5: If the new complex lacks it, there is a fine

   Any person, natural or juridical, engineer, architect or developer of housing complex construction — apartments or residences — who violates this Act’s provisions shall be administratively sanctioned by the Permits Management Office with a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the first violation, and up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for subsequent violations. Note who is fined: whoever designs or develops, not the resident or the Council of Owners.

The Permits Management Office is the one that sanctions non-compliance and, in collaboration with the Environmental Quality Board and the Solid Waste Authority, the one empowered to adopt by regulation the provisions on the dimensions of the area to be designated, taking into account the number of housing units to be built and the estimated number of residents. Construction plans must contain the designated area as an indispensable condition for granting the construction permit. If the matter is inside your condominium — use of the area, contracting the hauler — that goes through the Council of Owners and this site’s condominium guides.

• Claiming the area in a building predating July 2003: the duty is for new works from that date.
• Believing the fine falls on the resident or the Council: the engineer, architect or developer is sanctioned.
• Denying the recycling truck entry when there is an agreement: access-controlled complexes must allow entry if the hauler identifies themselves and there is an agreement with established dates and times.
• Forgetting that under horizontal property the area is a general common element, with what that implies for its use and administration.
• Looking in the law for the area’s dimensions: the regulation sets them, not the statute.
• Thinking the law requires recycling used oil or tires: it expressly excludes them where a legal prohibition on recovering them this way applies.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov