Waste recycling is strategic for Italian industry, heavily dependent on importing materials at rising costs. In 2024, Italy's dependence on material imports was 46.6%, more than double the European average of 22.4% and higher than other major countries, whilst the cost of such imports rose from 424.2 billion euros in 2019 to 568.7 billion euros in 2024, an increase of 34%.
However, Italian industry continues to grow its use of recycled material in 2024, thanks to 86% of all managed waste (both municipal and special). New Eurostat data confirms Italy's excellent result: in 2024 the circular material use rate reached 21.6%, marking 0.5% growth compared to 2023; against an EU average of 12.2%, France's 17.8%, Germany's 14.8% and Spain's 7.4%. In packaging recycling, Italy confirms itself as a European excellence with 76.7%, well beyond the 65% target for 2025 and 70% for 2030 (plastic beyond the European target of 50%). Despite this overall positive picture, some critical issues emerge, such as the crisis in plastic recycling.
These are the data emerging from the report "Recycling in Italy 2025", which records the performance of 19 supply chains, produced by the Foundation for Sustainable Development and presented in Milan at the fourth national conference of the recycling industry, organised by the same foundation in collaboration with Conai and Pianeta2030/Corriere della Sera.
"The national recycling industry conference," declared Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister of Environment and Energy Security, "represents an important opportunity to address one of the strategic axes of ecological transition. Raw material recycling is an essential element to promote sustainable change, capable of reducing our dependence on extracting new resources and mitigating consequent environmental impacts. Institutions and sector operators, together, now have the opportunity to build a system capable of guaranteeing secure supply of materials necessary for developing a new industrial ecosystem".
"Despite the difficulties that the entire industrial system is facing in our country", emphasised Edo Ronchi, president of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, "the recycling sector, overall, both for quantities processed and turnover, maintains positive performance, confirming itself not only as a European excellence but also a strategic sector for the Italian economy. Consolidating the recycling industry also means contributing to material supply autonomy and security whilst reducing high dependence on their imports".
In Italy, entire industrial sectors rely on recycling thanks to 74.1% of special waste recycled, which produced 133 million tonnes of recovered materials. According to an in-depth analysis of national production of secondary raw materials (SRM) derived from municipal and special waste recycling activities, conducted for the first time in collaboration with Ispra and Conai, for some types of materials (paper and cardboard, plastic and glass) the share of packaging on the total for SRM production is very significant. For glass, 66% derives from packaging, for paper and cardboard, 54%, and even for plastic it stands around 50%.
"Italy has built recognised European leadership in recycling over the years", declared Simona Fontana, Conai general director. "A result born from investments, industrial expertise and the entire supply chain's ability to work in coordinated fashion. Today, however, this leadership cannot be taken for granted: some market dynamics and increasingly intense international competition make evident how essential it is to guarantee stable conditions, clear and fair rules and coherent industrial vision. It's fundamental to strengthen oversight of the most exposed supply chains and support companies in their transition path. The Conai system has demonstrated that recycling generates economic, environmental and employment value for the country: now we need to create a framework that allows these performances to consolidate and grow. Only thus can Italy continue to compete in Europe, making its circular economy not only an environmental model, but a true strategic lever for national industrial development".
Italian proposals relating to the Circular Economy Act, already elaborated and shared at the beginning of this year, aim to make a concrete contribution to the process of simplification and strengthening European circular economy legislation. Through reinforced teamwork, Italy is called to confirm its excellence.
In this positive picture, however, two sectors in difficulty emerge: the crisis in plastic recycling and stagnation in growth of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection and recycling, whose collection rate in Italy in 2024 fell below 30%, well below the European target of 65% in force since 2019.
Although both separate collection and the quantity sent for plastic packaging waste recycling increased in 2024, reaching 51.1%, beyond the European target of 50%, plastic recycling industrial activity has entered crisis: turnover has fallen, demand and prices have dropped to minimums. In 2024, although recycled PET production increased, turnover fell by 18%, also due to increased competition from low-cost virgin PET and recycled PET from abroad, increasing and equal to about 20% of the national market. The situation worsened in 2025. The obligation for 25% recycled content in PET bottles, in force since 1 January 2025, has not increased demand for recycled PET, probably because the obligation lacks sanctions. The crisis has also involved all other plastic polymers generated through mechanical recycling. The national plastic recycling industry must face, against reduced demand, competition from falling virgin polymer prices and those of imported recycled plastics, whilst sustaining high energy costs and substantial disposal costs, with incinerators or landfills for non-recyclable plastics.
"The European plastic recycling industry", commented Edo Ronchi, "shouldn't lose the opportunity represented by the new European Packaging Regulation to expand its activities and adequately respond to Chinese competition: however, urgent measures are needed to overcome the current crisis, not to compromise the sector's industrial capabilities, but allow it to face, with a relaunch, new and demanding challenges".
WEEE is an important source of critical and strategic raw materials, indispensable for various important industrial sectors and to be valorised by significantly growing collection and recycling. The European Commission has proposed introducing a €2/kg tax for uncollected WEEE which in Italy would translate to about 2.6 billion euros per year. An equivalent figure, or at least part of it, instead of being paid as tax could represent an investment, paid by producers, in collection systems and initiatives provided for in the WEEE coordination programme agreement with Anci.
