Energy and Environment

Italy shines in circular economy but has to deal with raw material imports

This is the picture, substantially positive even if there are some contradictory elements, that emerges from the Circular Economy Network's 2025 Report on the Circular Economy, promoted by the Foundation for Sustainable Development, and produced in collaboration with ENEA

15 May 2025

3' min read

Italy shines in the circular economy, but has to reckon with the import of raw materials, which is double the EU average, and with rising costs. This is the picture, substantially positive even if there are some contradictory elements, that emerges from the Circular Economy Network's 2025 Report on the circular economy, promoted by the Foundation for Sustainable Development, produced in collaboration with ENEA and presented in Rome during the 7th National Conference on the Circular Economy attended by, among others, the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin and Vincenzo Gente, Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission.

Italy among the first in Europe

"Italy is confirmed as one of the leaders in Europe in terms of circularity, particularly in terms of resource productivity, waste recycling and the rate of circular use of materials," said Claudia Brunori, director of ENEA's Department of Sustainability, Circularity and Adaptation to Climate Change for Productive and Territorial Systems. For the expert, due to the "framework of geopolitical and climatic instability, it is necessary to limit our dependence on imported materials, which is more than double the European average".

Second only to the Netherlands

In the EU framework ('using the European system of indicators'), the best performance is that of the Netherlands (70.6 points), followed by our country with 65.2 points. Germany ranks third (60.6 points). France and Spain are in fifth and seventh position with 58.7 and 56.9 points respectively. Not only that, the country increases its resource productivity, with a 20 per cent improvement over 2019. At the same time, however, the dependence on material imports remains high. "In 2023 it amounted to 48% of total needs, which is significantly higher than in the EU, which stood at 22% in the same year," the report reconstructs. The cost of our imports rose from EUR 424.2 billion in 2019 to an impressive EUR 568.7 billion in 2024, an increase of 34%."

Waste collection

Italy's performance in waste management was also considered excellent. The recycling rate of municipal waste in "Italy has increased by 3.2 percentage points compared to 2019, reaching 50.8% in 2023". Comparing the performance of the four main European countries, 'only Germany does better than Italy with a remarkable 68.2%, while France (42.2%) and Spain (41.4%) perform worse' . In 2023, private investment in certain activities typical of the circular economy (recycling, repair, reuse, rental and leasing) in the EU27 amounted to €130.6 billion (0.8% of GDP). "Italy, with €10.2 billion (0.5% of GDP), ranks third after Germany and France, but shows a significant drop compared to 2019: -22% in absolute value and -0.2 percentage points in relation to GDP."

On the employment front, Italy is also losing ground in absolute terms: 508,000 people are employed in certain activities typical of the circular economy, down 7% compared to 2019. However, in relation to total employment, Italy is in line with the EU average of 2%, surpassing France (1.8%) and Germany (1.7%).

The opportunity of critical raw materials

Then there is the opportunity of critical raw materials such as copper, phosphorus and aluminium. "Italy," the report notes, "can either exploit its potential as a European leader in the circularity of the economy, or it can gradually lose it by slowing down its improvements in circularity rates compared to other countries that are accelerating.

Ronchi: 'Good, but not great'

For Edo Ronchi, president of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, the picture is 'good but not great'. "In an uncertain economic and political context, with the worsening of international conflicts, in which raw materials also play a fundamental role, Italy must decide whether to strengthen its leadership in circularity or lose this advantage," said Ronchi. To really get the circular economy off the ground, we must change perspective. Today we focus too much on waste management and too little on upstream actions, such as designing products that last longer, are easy to repair and can be reused'. Then another passage: 'The market for secondary raw materials is still weak, and there is a lack of effective tools to monitor real progress on circularity, which is not only measured by waste. To overcome these obstacles, we need to make sustainable choices more convenient for everyone, both producers and consumers; use the tax lever to reward those who reduce waste and introduce circular criteria in public purchasing as well. The circular economy is not only a good idea for the environment, but a concrete opportunity for innovation and development'.

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