Waste - National Responses (Italy)

The new Framework Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on waste is currently under implementation into Italy’s legislative framework.

As stated under Article 4 of the Waste Framework Directive, waste management must be carried out in accordance with the following priorities:

·      quantity and quality prevention of waste;

·      preparation for re-use of products that have become waste;

·      recycling;

·      other types of recovery, for example, energy recovery;

·      disposal.

Separate collection provides a positive response to the pressures on the environment caused by waste. In 2007, 27.5 % of total municipal waste was separately collected. Although this was more than in 2006, 25.8 %, it is still below the 35 % target provided by Article 205 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 of 31 December 2006, and the 40 % target of 31 December 2007 introduced by Law no. 296 of 27 December 2006.

As regards packaging waste, Decree 152/06 set higher targets for the recycling of certain packaging materials with respect to the Packaging Directive. As shown in Table 3, higher targets were set because Italy is already well advanced in recovery of certain packaging waste fractions.

Table  3. Comparison between recycling targets set in EU and Italian legislation

According to Article 5 (1) of the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC, Italy has developed a national strategy for the reduction of biodegradable waste going to landfills. This strategy identifies the waste types to be considered as biowaste and defines specific targets for reduction. The target for year 2008 was achieved at the national level.

Authors:

Cristina Frizza, Andrea M. Lanz (ISPRA)

References

ISPRA, 2008, Rapporto rifiuti 2008

ISPRA, Key Topics –Italian Environmental Data Yearbook 2008. Roma, 2009. http://annuario.apat.it/

ISPRA, Italian Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2008 - National Inventory Report 2010

http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/facts/factsheets_waste/2009_edition/Italy