Italy is among the top 5 countries in Europe

12 October 2016

Italy is one of the top 5 EU countries when it comes to recycling. This result is the fruit of in-depth research undertaken in 2003 by Corepla (the Italian consortium for the collection and recycling of plastic packages) for investment in R&D, recycling-oriented production, and reuse of materials, and of a system that is increasingly efficient in terms of management costs.

Italy today is one of the leading countries for recycling in the EU, with a release for use in 2015 of approximately 2 million tons of plastic packaging. In 2015, about 900,000 tons of plastic packaging were collected, an 8.4% increase compared to 2014. Recycling rose, also, reaching 540,000 tons, which together with the 324 tons that have produced heat and energy, have curbed the amount of waste ending up in the landfill to 0.8% of the material collected.

According to Corepla, the cost for every ton of material passing through the consortium fell from approximately €42 from 2003 to about €16 in 2015 and, for the future, key words will be additional R&D and further development, and materials increasingly designed for recycling. According to the consortium, in 2003, packaging collected came from 5 secondary raw materials, a number which rose in 2015 to 15. The great challenge today is posed by the circular economy, where innovation is vital and involves all segments of the pipeline, from producers of materials to manufacturers of processing technology through to plastic goods manufacturers and producers of reclaiming and recycling systems.