ECONOMY AND MARKET
packaging goods. Construction, agriculture, street furniture, household goods, hygiene, furniture: polyethylene cuts across sectors that represent the country’ s real economy. At the same time, it also plays a central role in post-consumer recycling, making it a natural candidate for effective and targeted extended producer responsibility policies.
NEW EPR: OPPORTUNITY OR CRITICAL ISSUE? A significant part of the debate centres precisely on the regulatory front. The draft regulation on the new EPR scheme for non-packaging plastic goods, put out for consultation by MASE, introduces obligations regarding registration, traceability and monitoring of flows, ushering in an unprecedented phase for the sector. For Fabio Pedrazzi, president of Ecopolietilene, this is‘ a fundamental step’, but one not without uncertainties. The risk, he stresses, is that the cost of the transition will fall disproportionately on businesses, at a time when the industrial system is already under severe pressure.‘ Sustainability cannot be merely environmental,’ he states,‘ it must also be economic’. The challenges also concern the practical applicability of the new scheme: from citizens’ ability to sort plastic items correctly, to companies’ management of administrative obligations, right down to the very scope of the products involved. Without a clear and coordinated model, there is a risk of further complicating life for operators and users, thereby weakening rather than strengthening recycling. with inevitable repercussions on costs and the quality of the recovered material.
THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF POLYETHYLENE Within this scenario, polyethylene emerges as a key
Polyethylene, key figures
Placed on the market in Italy( 2024) |
670,000 t |
Share of total non-packaging plastic goods |
36 % |
Proportion of post-consumer streams in recycling |
75 % |
Projected change in recycled polymers in 2025 |
– 7.5 % |
PE waste managed by Ecopolietilene( 2020 – 2025) |
> 150,000 t |
Recovery rate achieved in 2025 |
~ 50 % |
Ecopolietilene member companies |
250 |
www. plastmagazine. it material, both in terms of prevalence and centrality within the recycling supply chain. With around 670,000 tonnes entering the market in 2024, accounting for 36 % of the total plastic goods analysed, PE is the most widely used polymer in non-
A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN Ecopolietilene advocates a pragmatic and practical approach. Since 2020, the consortium has managed over 150,000 tonnes of polyethylene waste, aiming to achieve a recovery rate of nearly 50 % by 2025 of the waste supplied by its 250 members. These figures demonstrate that it is possible to build functioning EPR systems, provided they are based on clear rules and genuine collaboration throughout the supply chain.“ We do not want to be mere bureaucratic supervisors,” emphasises General Manager Giancarlo Dezio. The aim is to remain on the ground, as an industrial partner to businesses and recycling operators.
INDUSTRY, RULES AND PRACTICALITY The message emerging from the study and the dialogue between supply chain stakeholders is clear: the transition to a more circular economy is inevitable, but it cannot be achieved without the industrial resilience of the system. In a Europe increasingly dependent on non-EU imports, so-called‘ urban mines’ represent a strategic resource, but only if supported by coherent policies and a market that genuinely rewards recycling. The challenge today is to transform regulations from a constraint into an opportunity. And to achieve this, as advocated by Ecopolietilene, we will need clearly defined parameters, simple mechanisms and, above all, practical action. A word that, now more than ever, seems crucial for the future of European plastics.
Italian technology plast / June-July 2026
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