September 18, 2025 16:10

The Italian association of plastic recyclers Assorimap has formally requested—and obtained—the creation of a crisis roundtable at the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) to tackle the mounting challenges of the recycling sector, which mirror problems already faced at the European level.

In a letter sent in recent days to Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Assorimap President Walter Regis (pictured) described the difficulties recyclers are facing, warning that many companies are no longer able to continue operations due to a convergence of critical factors. “First the pandemic crisis, then soaring energy costs and finally the competition from low-cost virgin polymers imported from Asia: for years, mechanical plastic recyclers have been reporting this structural crisis,” Regis wrote.

In Italy, the recycling industry comprises more than 350 companies, employs over 10,000 people and has an installed capacity of 1.8 million tonnes.
To prevent the collapse of the system, Assorimap is calling for swift government action and the establishment of a permanent institutional roundtable for mechanical plastic recycling. “Months after our initial call for intervention, we have yet to see any substantial response,” the letter continues. “This inaction stands in sharp contrast to countries like France and Spain, where governments have already adopted support measures.”

The ministry has accepted the appeal and scheduled a consultative roundtable on 8 October in Rome, within the framework of the National Circular Economy Strategy. Industrial associations, plastic recycling consortia and institutional stakeholders have been invited.

The agenda includes three key issues: challenges in plastic waste collection and management; progress on initiatives to meet EU regulatory targets; and the evaluation of financial instruments.

The difficulties faced by Italian recyclers mirror those across Europe, where Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) has repeatedly called for urgent action. In its latest appeal, issued in early September, PRE warned that in just the first seven months of 2025, Europe has already lost as much recycling capacity as in the whole of 2024—a year that itself recorded cuts three times higher than in 2023. The hardest-hit countries are the Netherlands, Germany and the UK (Read article).

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