Last checked: 14 October 2026 — the date every statement on this page was checked against the sources below.
Italy has one packaging consortium, CONAI, not a choice of schemes. You join it, it gives you a CONAI number, and you pay its environmental contribution (CAC) per tonne by material. A foreign company joins by electing a domicilio speciale, an Italian address. Six material consortia do the collection and recycling under CONAI. Sources (2)D.Lgs. 3 aprile 2006, n. 152D.Lgs. 3 aprile 2006, n. 152 (Testo unico ambientale), art. 221CONAICONAI — Soggetti obbligati e modalità di adesione
CONAI
The Consorzio Nazionale Imballaggi. Article 221 of D.Lgs. 152/2006 makes producers and users of packaging take part in it. Unlike Germany, with its competing dual systems, or Spain, with several schemes, Italy has one consortium and every member pays the same published contribution.
The six material consortia
Ricrea (steel), CiAl (aluminium), Comieco (paper and cardboard), Rilegno (wood), Corepla (plastic) and CoReVe (glass) organise collection and recycling of their material. You do not contract them separately: CONAI membership covers every material. See the consortia.
The CAC
The Contributo Ambientale CONAI is set per tonne, by material, and for paper and plastic by band. From 1 October 2026 mono-material paper and cardboard is €45 per tonne and plastic runs from €51 (band A1.1) to €922 (band C). Every figure is in the CONAI contribution dataset. Depending on the amount, CONAI assigns an annual, quarterly or monthly declaration.
The domicilio speciale
CONAI admits a foreign company as a member if it elects a special domicile in Italy “presso una persona fisica o giuridica appositamente nominata” (“with a natural or legal person appointed for the purpose”). It is the address CONAI writes to. A foreign company without an Italian presence uses a representative's address — which is what most providers, including us, sell.
The authorised representative
A separate, newer role under PPWR Article 45(3). Italy's decree defining how it works in Italian law is still pending. We take both roles under one written mandate, so nothing has to be re-signed when the decree arrives.
RENAP
The Registro Nazionale dei Produttori, run by the environment ministry since May 2025, records every producer under an EPR regime. Its packaging section is still to come; CONAI has written to its members that it is being prepared. When it opens, we tell you what changes.
We are not lawyers. Where Italian practice is unsettled, this is our reading of the rules, not legal advice.
Sources
Every claim above comes from one of these. Primary law and the competent authority first; no provider marketing pages.
- D.Lgs. 3 aprile 2006, n. 152 (Testo unico ambientale), art. 221 — read 2026-10-14
- CONAI — Soggetti obbligati e modalità di adesione — read 2026-10-14
- CONAI — FAQ: imprese estere — read 2026-10-14
- CONAI — Contributo Ambientale, valori 2026 — read 2026-10-14
- Corepla — new CONAI plastic contribution from 1 October 2026 (25 May 2026) — read 2026-10-14
- MASE — Registro Nazionale dei Produttori (RENAP) — read 2026-10-14
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR), Article 45 — read 2026-10-14
Razvan Toma is the founder of EPR Italy Rep, and of EPR France Rep, EPR Germany Rep and EPR Spain Rep. Every page here is written from CONAI, the law or the marketplace's own page, never from another provider's marketing.
Razvan on LinkedIn ↗