Italy faces widespread plastic recycling and waste management crisis

Italy is facing a widespread crisis in the plastic recycling supply chain, leading to service suspensions and collection limitations in regions including Sardinia, Puglia, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, and Campania. The crisis is driven by saturated storage facilities, reduced collection rates, and a lack of market demand for recycled materials, compounded by competition from low-cost virgin plastics.

Local authorities and organizations like Plastic Free Onlus warn that the economic burden of this industrial failure is shifting toward citizens. Gaetano Manfredi, president of ANCI, noted that Italian municipalities lose between 350 and 400 million euros annually due to these issues. In Reggio Emilia, local official Davide Prandi emphasized that the national industrial crisis must not result in higher waste management bills for families.

In addition to the plastic crisis, regional waste management faces structural challenges. In the province of Macerata, political deadlock regarding new landfill sites is driving up TARI tax rates. Meanwhile, in Reggio Emilia, the municipal council recently rejected a motion aimed at accelerating a public tender for waste services by 2026, though officials maintain that a new tender process is still planned to ensure system sustainability.