June 15, 2026 12:18

Last year, Italian recyclers of post-consumer plastics produced more recycled pellets: around 850,000 tonnes, up 2% from 2024.
Revenues, however, did not increase; on the contrary, turnover for the roughly 80 companies operating in the sector fell to €685 million, down 1.1%, marking the third consecutive year in negative territory.

The situation worsened in the second half of the year, with recyclate prices falling to their lowest level of the decade and operating costs reaching record highs, led by energy costs.

Data on the sector’s performance were presented at Plast 2026 by Assorimap, the association of Italian plastics recyclers, during a conference that aimed to look beyond the figures and examine the causes of a crisis which - apart from a pause of a few months coinciding with the Iranian crisis and the related increase in virgin material prices - now appears to be structural.

According to the report, prepared as every year by market intelligence company Plastic Consult, 76 companies produce recycled pellets, or flakes in the case of PET, for the converting market from post-consumer material, with 88 plants across the country.

The breakdown of production by polymer has not changed over the past year: polyethylenes lead with a 42% share, followed by PET, which accounts for 27% of the total. Mixed polyolefins stand at 16%, while polypropylene is gaining in importance, reaching 13%. The remaining 2% consists mainly of styrenics, PVC and polyamides.

As for destination markets for recyclates in Italy, packaging is growing: last year it reached 46% of total volumes, up 3% compared with 2024, with rigid packaging clearly prevailing and continuing to expand, also thanks to the contribution of R-PET for beverage bottles.
Pipes follow with 12%, then other building and construction applications at 11%, while other flexible applications account for 6% of total volumes.

Two other figures are important in understanding the system: municipal separate waste collection supplies 72% of the material to be recycled, while, geographically, 17% comes from abroad.

The mismatch between production volumes and turnover varies by polymer. At one extreme is R-PET, whose value increased by 8.8% to €272 million despite a slight decline in volumes; at the other is recycled polypropylene, where a 6.1% increase in volumes was accompanied by a 9.8% collapse in turnover.

The causes of the recycling crisis are largely known: competition from virgin material, which before the Strait of Hormuz crisis cost less than recycled material, low-cost imports from Asia and higher operating costs for European companies.

But what emerged during the conference is that the major missing element is the final market. The supply chain may be efficient and able to internalise costs, but without demand for Made in Italy - or at least Made in Europe - recyclate, there is little that can be done.

As Assorimap president Walter Regis (pictured9 recalled, only policymakers can remove system-level constraints by controlling imports, encouraging the use of recycled material - including through minimum mandatory quotas - recognising the environmental value of recyclate through mechanisms such as carbon credits, and using part of the tax Italy pays to Europe for plastics that are not recycled, the European plastic tax, to support recycling activities in the country.

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