Circular economy

Bioplastics, packaging recycling in Italy to grow to 57.8% in 2024

Biorepack President Marco Versari: 'Now it is necessary to work on collection quality and the improvement of treatment plants'

by Sara Deganello

27 May 2025

2' min read

Key points

Increase in coverage
We can do better

2' min read

Organic recycling of compostable bioplastic packaging is on the rise: in Italy in 2024, the rate was 57.8% of the amount released for consumption, two percentage points higher than the adjusted 2023 value according to the latest Ispra data. In absolute numbers, this is 47,511 tonnes recycled out of 82,246 in 2024, compared to 43,496 out of 77,923 in 2023. The quota exceeds the EU recycling rate on plastics of 50% required by 2025 and also the 2030 target of 55%.

The figures emerged in the annual management report for the year 2024 of Biorepack, the national consortium for the organic recycling of biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging.

Increased coverage

Among other indicators, the significant increase in coverage over the territory should be noted: the share of the population served by the agreements signed by the consortium with municipalities or entities delegated for collection reached 85.5% (it was 74.1% in 2023 and 64.4% in 2022). In 9 regions - Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Liguria, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Calabria and Apulia - the coverage exceeded 90%.

The increase is particularly marked in some southern regions: Calabria reached 100% (+76 percentage points) of the population served, as did Apulia (+12 percentage points), while Campania reached 76% (+34 percentage points).

The economic fees paid to municipalities and entities that deal with waste sorting on their behalf also increased, reaching EUR 12.7 million to cover the costs of collection, transport and treatment of compostable bioplastic packaging contained in wet waste (they were EUR 9.4 million in 2023 and 9.3 in 2022).

We can do better

The president of Biorepack, Marco Versari, shows satisfaction: 'In just over three years of activity we have achieved results that certainly could not be taken for granted at the beginning, and today we can say that our consortium, the first of its kind in Europe, is present throughout Italy.

Versari also indicates the goals for the future: 'We know that we can do better. There is still more than 10 per cent of bioplastic that is lost in the process: we see that wet waste is often contaminated by other non-compostable materials, so we need to improve the quality of collection, and for this we will continue to invest in communication activities. There are also treatment systems that can be improved: we know that we can work on the plants and we are doing so'. On the communication front, a pictogram was presented internally that can be used by all Biorepack consortium members, "to simplify the recognisability of a compostable product, without replacing standards and certifications," explains the president.

And on the exportability of the Italian system, Versari observes: 'There is interest, it has never waned. It comes mainly from Europe and the USA. At the centre, above all, is the management of economic aspects and the relationship with municipalities'.

Sara Deganelloredattrice
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Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: italiano, inglese, tedesco
Argomenti: design, economia, cultura
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