Italy
Selling single-use plastics into Italy
Single-Use Plastics EPR in Italy comes from D.Lgs. 196/2021, which brought the EU single-use plastics rules into Italian law on 14 January 2022. It starts from the product: what counts as a single-use plastic item decides what you owe.
Say you sell plastic cups, food containers, wet wipes or tobacco-filter products into Italy. Bans on the listed items (cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers and similar) and the marking rules have applied since 2022, so those duties are already live for you.
What applies today and what is pending in Italy
The producer-financing side is more uneven. Where a single-use plastic item is also packaging, it runs through the CONAI system and those producers already pay.
For non-packaging items, the article 8 cost-coverage duties are phased in through implementing decrees, several of which were still pending in mid-2026.
How the single-use plastics rules split in Italy
The practical picture divides in two.
| SUP item type | How compliance works |
|---|---|
| Items that are also packaging, such as cups and food containers | Run through the CONAI system, the same route as packaging |
| Non-packaging items, such as tobacco filters, wet wipes and balloons | Cost-coverage set by implementing decrees, several still pending |
Through EPR in Italy the settled part is the bans and marking, while the stand-alone financing duties are the ones still forming. Enforcement of all of it sits with MASE under the D.Lgs. 196/2021 penalty provisions.
Questions sellers ask about single-use plastics EPR in Italy
The points single-use plastics sellers raise most often about the Italian rules.
Who has to register for single-use plastics EPR in Italy?
Whoever places single-use plastic items on the Italian market. For items that are also packaging, that means CONAI membership. For non-packaging items, the registration route depends on the implementing decrees, several of which are still pending.
Is there a threshold or exemption for small producers?
For items that are packaging, CONAI's simplified procedures apply, but the duty to join is not waived. For stand-alone single-use plastics duties, no small-producer threshold is documented on official sources.
Do foreign or online sellers need an authorised representative in Italy?
For packaging-type items the CONAI rule applies, so the Italian importer usually carries it and direct e-commerce sellers join themselves. For non-packaging items no formal authorised representative route has been confirmed.
What changes next for single-use plastics EPR in Italy?
The pending piece is the phased article 8 cost-coverage for non-packaging items, which arrives through further implementing decrees. Items that are packaging already run through packaging EPR in Italy and do not wait on those.
