Separate urban waste collection

Separate urban waste collection

The circular economy starts here, with the separate collection of packaging waste.

In Italy, Corepla covers:

  • collection of packaging materials even after recycling targets have been met;
  • appropriate recycling and recovery of materials collected;
  • acknowledgement of fees for municipalities to cover the higher costs that arise from providing this service.
Collection service

The Consortium is not involved in organising or managing the separate collection of plastic packaging waste. Collection is organised and managed individually or in collaboration with municipalities. The service can be delivered directly or, as in most cases, is contracted to public, private or mixed organisations, as provided for by law.

Considerable differences in the organisation of services may arise from region to region, depending on geographical characteristics, density and type of land use (residential, industrial or commercial), and the recovery facilities available.

Agreements with municipalities

The National Framework Agreement between the Consorzio nazionale imballaggi (CONAI, the National Packaging Consortium) and the Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani (ANCI, the National Association of Italian Municipalities) was established in 1998 and most recently renewed in 2020. It includes specific technical appendices, which set out the specific conditions of collection and unit fees for each packaging material based on its quality (i.e. the percentage presence of fractions other than the material to be recycled).

Fees are not based on the market value of materials collected, but on the predefined average cost of separate waste collection. On the operational level, Corepla – in line the National Framework Agreement and the technical appendices relating to plastic packaging – has therefore signed local agreements with municipalities or waste management operators designated specifically by municipalities.

CONAI Environmental Contribution and Packaging

The separate waste collection service only covers packaging, i.e. items designed to contain, transport and protect goods throughout the distribution process, and for which the CONAI Environmental Contribution (CAC) has been paid.

Non-packaging plastic materials cannot be collected separately because system costs are mainly covered by the CAC, which is exclusively for packaging.