Comieco: 22nd annual report

Over 3.2 million t of paper and board collected in Italy in 2016. The South is driving the recovery with +8.6%.

The scenario outlined by Comieco at the presentation of its 22nd Annual Report in Bari presents a strong recovery of separately collected paper and board in Italy.
The national average of recycling per capita exceeds 53 kg.
After years of stalling then, with over 3.2 million t collected by municipal governments, separate collection of paper and board in Italy has logged a significant increase, over 3% in fact, removing more than 100,000 t of cellulosic waste from landfills.

Growth factors. This conspicuous growth reveals even more promising signs when looking at the comparative data of Italy’s macro-regions: northern, central and southern Italy have all resumed growth in recycling.

From South… Driving the recovery are without a doubt the regions of southern Italy, which with +8.6% (a rate double that achieved in 2015) have surpassed 32 kg per capita and contributed more than half of the growth achieved by the country as a whole.
These impressive results have also been achieved thanks in part to special resources made available by the Consortium in order to increase separate collection of paper and board. Over 10 million euro has been allocated since 2014 through the “Plan for Southern Italy” and Bando Anci programs.

…to North. After grinding to a halt during last year, the North of Italy is also back on track, logging +1.5% with 63.3 kg per capita.
… by way of the Center. Even more so than the North, with 65.6 kg per resident and +3% thanks to excellent performance by the region of Lazio, central Italy is also back in the saddle.

Objective: quality. In light of the results achieved, the challenge for the future is to maintain and improve the level of quality that in 2016 saw a impurity percentage of the material gathered of over 3% (this datum refers to material gathered by households).
Since the first efforts in the late ‘90s, Italy’s paper and board recycling has made major steps forward, and the country has every right to stand alongside Europe’s top performers. In under 20 years, the volume of paper and board collected has more than tripled from 1 to over 3 million t annually, removing over 45 million t of cellulosic waste from landfills.

As an industry consortium under the umbrella of the CONAI system, since the Ronchi Decree went into effect (Leg. Decree 22/97), Comieco has always been the guarantor of paper and board recycling programs in Italy, effectively guiding the development of separate collection throughout the country, allocating 1.4 billion euro to participating municipal governments (102 million in 2016 alone) and managing 28 t of paper and board during that time.
The organization’s role is essentially that of a relief provider, which it continues to serve, moreover, leaving the best performing regions (North and Center) to operate in autonomy, while it focuses its efforts and investments on those places in greatest need of support (namely southern Italy and the islands, where Comieco managed 77% of municipal recycling in 2016).
Finally, we remind that having heard out Comieco’s position on the subject, CONAI’s board of directors decided in July to increase the environmental tax credit for paper packaging from 4 to 10 euro/t. The change will go into effect on 1 January 2018.