Packaging recycling continues to see Italy top the list of the most virtuous member states in the EU. Again in 2020-as in 2019-the Italian recycling industry posted growth, despite the pandemic.
Much remains to be done, however, as reported by ‘Italy of Recycling 2021,’ the report sponsored by the Foundation for Sustainable Development (chaired by Edo Ronchi) and FISE Unicircular (Unione Imprese Economia Circolare).
Recycling packaging, the 6 best results
Despite the crisis triggered by Covid-19, packaging recycling in 2020 remained at a good level. About 9.6 million tons were sent for material recovery (stable figure compared to 2019). The recycling rate increased to 73 percent of the released for consumption, up 3 percentage points from the previous year.
Recycling rates for packaging wastei were confirmed at record highs for the entire continent:
– paper (87%),
– steel (80%).
– glass (79%),
– aluminum (69%),
– wood (62 percent),
– plastic (49%;).
Still too little for WEEE, end-of-life vehicles and batteries
Less virtuous are the results for other supply chains subject to collection, reuse and recycling targets.
The collection of WEEE (electrical and electronic waste) stopped at 38.4 percent of the released for consumption, far from the target of 65 percent set for 2019.
Similar lag concerns end-of-life vehicles whose reuse and recycling rate (85 percent) remained far from the 2015 target of 95 percent. For portable batteries and accumulators, the collection rate also stopped at 43 percent, two points below the target set for 2016.
Effects from consumption contraction
The contraction of consumption in 2020 will reverberate on the collection and recycling of used vegetable oils (-12 percent), a waste that is managed in commercial activities but neglected in the household.
The amount of used mineral oil collected and sent for recycling also decreased (-11% vs 2019). In this case, however, the figure suffers from the decrease in consumer input. In fact, the collection rate remained at 46 percent (almost the maximum collectable).
Ecological transition, what it takes
A true green transition requires regulatory simplification, incentives for reuse and the use of recycled products. Useful remedies also help to overcome the current rising costs of raw materials, energy and logistics.
Moreover, the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) offers a valuable opportunity to close the planting gap in some Italian regions. Promote the efficiency of important recycling sectors and develop new recycling processes.
The appeal of businesses
‘These pandemic years are making us touch on how fragile and dependent our economies are on the supply policies of other countries,’ highlights Paolo Barberi, president of FISE Unicircular.
‘Here, then, recycling, in addition to its value for the ecological transition, takes on even morestrategic importance for the resilience of our economic and social system. For this reason, it is necessary to create a market and a culture that adequately values, with appropriate tools, materials and products from recycling, discouraging the use of virgin raw materials and rewarding an industrial sector often made up of small or medium-sized private businesses, which have enabled and enable the achievement of important results in the recovery of materials and energy from waste‘.
Edo Ronchi, more outlets for recycled materials
‘Italy’s waste recycling system, a pillar of the circular economy and also important for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, held up well in 2020, the harshest year of the pandemic. It can now play an important role in the country’s recovery’, says Edo Ronchi, president of the Foundation for Sustainable Development. ‘It must, however, better equip itself to seize the new challenges and avoid mistakes that could set it back.’
‘Recycling must have more outlets for the materials it produces so that secondary raw materials are preferred to virgin raw materials and more in demand and used. The errors to be avoided are those that affect the strengths of the Italian recycling system and are affected by the drives of special interests and conveniences with negative repercussions, however, on the greater quantities of recycled waste.’
The Italy of Recycling Report is available in the Publications area on the Unicircular website and the Foundation for Sustainable Development website.
Marta Strinati
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
