Italy Advances Recycling but Infrastructure Gaps Threaten EU Targets

Separate waste collection rises to 68% and effective recycling to 52%, but the infrastructure gap, especially in the South of Italy, weighs on the costs of the TARI and puts European 2035 targets at risk.

Italy is making further progress toward a circular economy, but the lack of facilities continues to hinder the waste sector’s transition. This is what emerges from the Green Book 2026, the annual report promoted by Utilitalia and edited by the Utilitatis Foundation, presented in Naples during the Green Med Expo & Symposium. In 2024, separate waste collection reached 68% of national municipal waste production, while actual recycling stood at 52%.

This improvement, however, still highlights a wide gap between materials collected and actually reintroduced into production cycles.

According to the report, national municipal waste production exceeded 29.9 million tons, up 2.3% compared to 2023. Separate waste collection increased by approximately 755,000 tons, reaching over 20.3 million tons overall, while the recycling rate increased by 1.3 percentage points year-on-year in Italy.

The main obstacle to a full circular transition is the lack of facilities, particularly evident in Southern Italy and Sicily

The Green Book emphasizes that achieving the European 2035 targets of 65% effective recycling and less than 10% landfill disposal depends on the creation of adequate infrastructure for the treatment of both organic waste and unsorted waste.

The infrastructure gap also has a direct impact on the costs borne by residents. The average TARI tax in 2025 will be €333 for a family of three in a 100-square-meter home, but with significant regional differences: €288 in the North of Italy, €358 in Central Italy, and €378 in the South. According to Utilitalia, the disparities reflect not only different organizational models but also the economic burden of the lack of infrastructure on local systems.

Meanwhile, the sector continues to be strategic for the Italian economy. In 2024, the total turnover of waste management companies reached €19 billion, equal to 0.9% of the national GDP, with over 122,000 direct employees and approximately €2 billion in annual investments.

Among the most sensitive issues highlighted by the report is the potential inclusion of waste-to-energy plants in the European ETS. According to Utilitalia, extending carbon pricing to waste-to-energy plants could lead to a cost increase of up to €45 per ton and generate additional costs of approximately €350 million per year, impacting citizens, businesses, and municipalities without significant environmental benefits.

“An extraordinary, coordinated effort between institutions and businesses is needed to ensure investment stability and complete the national plant network,” said Utilitalia President Luca Dal Fabbro, emphasizing the need to maintain consistency with the European waste hierarchy.

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(Featured image by Etienne Girardet via Unsplash)

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First published in ESG NEWS. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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