In 2025, Italy recycled 10,970,000 tonnes of packaging, equivalent to 77.3% of the 14,200,000 tonnes released for consumption.
This was announced in the CONAI General Report, which documents the progress of the national packaging and recycling management system on an annual basis.
“It is an important milestone that confirms Italy’s leading position in the circular economy and the effectiveness of a model based on collaboration between institutions, companies, consortia and citizens,” says Gava. “Investing in recycling and the circular economy means combining sustainability, competitiveness and growth. The Government will continue to support this path, encouraging the necessary investments and the strengthening of the system across the country. The circular economy represents a great opportunity for the country and a model that Italy can make available to Europe.”
In detail, in Italy, 82.2% of steel packaging, amounting to over 442,000 tonnes; 69.5% of aluminium packaging, amounting to 56,000 tonnes; 92.6% of paper and cardboard packaging, i.e. 4,612,000 tonnes; 69.7% of wood packaging, amounting to 2,493,000 tonnes; 50.5% of plastic packaging, i.e. 1,161,000 tonnes of traditional plastic and over 44,000 tonnes of compostable bioplastic; and more than 82% of glass packaging, i.e. 2,155,000 tonnes, have found a second life.
“However, this milestone should be considered a starting point, not a point of arrival,” comments Ignazio Capuano, President of CONAI. “In the coming years, companies will have to focus more and more on design geared towards reuse and recyclability, as well as on the use of secondary raw materials, which is essential to really close the loop. In the new scenario that is emerging, the Consortium will maintain its role of supporting businesses, providing the technical expertise and tools necessary to adapt to the new EU standards, and of assisting public administrations to promote effective and efficient collection systems, especially for household packaging, with a particular focus on out-of-home consumption.”
The quantities of reused packaging will also increase in 2025. For more than ten years, the Consortium has introduced incentives and simplifications for reusable packaging, and last year almost 1,355,000 tonnes of reusable packaging were duly declared to the Consortium, an increase of more than 100,000 tonnes compared to 2024, mainly thanks to the wood packaging supply chain, where open and closed repair and reuse circuits are growing.
If we then add the percentage of packaging sent for energy recovery to recycling, the overall share of used packaging diverted from landfill reaches 86.6%.
Support for Municipalities
To support municipalities in the separate collection of packaging waste, in 2025 CONAI allocated 892 million euros to local Italian administrations.
The new national results were also made possible by the work carried out by CONAI and the consortium system with the Italian municipalities through the national agreement with ANCI, which in 2026 was renewed and transformed into the new National Framework Programme Agreement. In 2025, more than 7,500 municipalities entered into at least one agreement with the consortium system, serving 98% of the Italian population.
The end-of-life packaging delivered by municipalities to the CONAI system in 2025 increased in all macro-areas of the country, mainly due to the unfavourable trend in the secondary raw materials market. Compared to 2024, percentages are up in the North (+10.9%), the Centre (+11.7%) and the South (+11.6%).
“CONAI must continue to provide tools and services to facilitate the transition to a sustainable model,” explains Capuano. “At the same time, the results achieved remind us that the circular economy is only realised when European objectives go hand in hand with territorial planning and adequate plant facilities: this is the indispensable condition for ensuring the continuity and efficiency of the system. That is why it is essential to continue working to bridge the plant deficit that some areas of the country still suffer from“.
