Glass: recycling rates in Italy continue to rise, reaching 82 per cent by 2025

Glass: recycling continues to grow in Italy. According to figures from the Coreve recycling consortium, by 2025, the amount of recycled glass packaging waste had increased by 2.5 per cent, rising from 2,102,979 tonnes in 2024 to 2,155,287 tonnes in 2025. And whilst the consumption of glass products recorded a slight increase of 0.2% over the year, the recycling rate reached 82.1%, surpassing the already positive result of the previous year (80.3%).

Glass collection and recycling in Italy result in environmental savings. Coreve has calculated the economic benefits as €479 million in avoided landfill disposal costs, plus 408 million cubic metres of gas saved (with 2.4 million tonnes of CO₂ avoided) and 3.9 million tonnes of raw materials saved.

From a geographical perspective, there remain substantial differences between the various regions of the country. Whilst the national average stands at 40.6 kg collected per inhabitant, the North records an average of 46.7 kg per inhabitant, the Centre 38 kg and the South 33.6 kg. The Aosta Valley remains the top-performing region with 62.7 kg per inhabitant, whilst Sicily remains at the bottom of the table with just 28.6 kg per inhabitant.

During 2025, the number of local authorities with agreements with Coreve grew by over 9 per cent, reaching 7,485, equivalent to 94.8 per cent of the national total. The population served reached 56.8 million, corresponding to 96.4% of the Italian population, an increase of almost 9% compared with 2024.

Coreve directly managed approximately 2,159,000 tonnes of glass packaging waste, accounting for 90.2% of the national separate collection of this material, representing an increase of 24.3% compared with the previous year. Total payments made to local authorities reached €146 million (+29.7% compared with 2024), with growth peaking at over 31% in southern Italia.