The circularity rate of packaging in Italy continues to grow. In 2025, our country recycled 10.97 million tons of packaging out of 14.2 million tons placed on the market: 77.3%. These numbers are up compared to 2024, when recycling reached 76.7% (about 10.7 million tons out of over 13.9). Adding the share of packaging sent for energy recovery, the total share of waste diverted from landfill reached 86.6%.
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Specifically, in Italy 82.2% of steel packaging (over 442 thousand tons), 69.5% of aluminum packaging (56 thousand tons), 92.6% of paper and cardboard packaging (4.6 million tons); 69.7% of wood packaging (2.5 million tons); 50.5% of plastic packaging (1.2 million tons of traditional plastic and over 44 thousand tons of compostable bioplastic); 82% of glass packaging (2.1 million tons) found a second life.
The amount of reused packaging also increased in 2025: 1.3 million tons, up by over 100 thousand tons compared to 2024, mainly thanks to the wood supply chain.
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These are the numbers from the new general report by Conai, the national packaging consortium, which in 2025 recognized 892 million euros to municipalities to support separate waste collection. For President Ignazio Capuano, “exceeding 77% recycling demonstrates the effectiveness of cooperation among the various actors in the supply chain. However, this milestone should be considered a starting point. In the coming years, companies’ attention must increasingly focus on design oriented towards reuse and recyclability, as well as on the use of secondary raw materials, as also required by the PPWR coming into force next August 12.”
The new packaging regulation is complex, with definitions delegated to secondary legislation and parts subject to interpretation: “As Conai, we are supporting companies, especially SMEs, in this transition: they need answers on aspects that are under the Commission’s own scrutiny. Last week we organized a webinar that had 15,000 registrations. Today there is much confusion, and in this context, we want to be a guiding voice, together with our entire ecosystem.”
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