Recycling and waste management

This page is part of the European Commission’s Your Europe portal.

ITALIAN

CONTENTS

Definition of waste
Classification of waste
Obligations of waste producers/owners
Hazardous waste
Obligations of waste management operators
Waste recovery – End of waste
Waste electrical and electronic equipment
Authorisations and notifications concerning waste production and management
Shipments of waste
Waste traceability
Extended producer responsibility
Sanctions regime
Regional provisions and information
Legal and/or technical references
Authority responsible for the information

CONTENTS

Definition of waste

Any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard is considered waste.

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Classification of waste

Waste is classified according to its origin as municipal waste or special waste and, according to its hazards, as hazardous or non-hazardous waste.

Based on origin:

municipal waste;
special waste.

Based on its characteristics:

hazardous waste;
non-hazardous waste.

Additional information:
https://www.mase.gov.it/pagina/la-classificazione-dei-rifiuti (only available in Italian)

Based on the European Union’s waste reduction and recovery targets, a number of obligations have been established regarding separate waste collection.

All waste is identified by a six-digit European waste identification code, EWC (European Waste Catalogue), marked with an asterisk in the case of hazardous waste. Treatment and disposal methods vary according to the type of waste.

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Obligations of waste producers/owners

The producer/owner (“holder”) of the waste must:

treat the waste itself;
or entrust the treatment of its waste to a specialised waste collection and treatment facility or company that is authorised to operate in this field.

These operations must be recorded.

The holder is also required to:

provide authorised waste disposal operators with the necessary information to properly treat, dispose of and recover the waste;
provide the necessary information if the waste has any particular characteristics and may cause problems during transportation, collection, recovery or disposal;
immediately report to the relevant environmental authorities any disappearance, loss or spillage of hazardous waste or waste that, due to its nature or quantity, could harm the environment.

As regards the storage, mixing and labelling of the waste on the site where it is produced, the producer must:

ensure that waste is stored under the appropriate hygiene and safety conditions while in possession of it;
not mix or dilute hazardous waste with other categories of hazardous waste or with other waste, substances or materials;
store, package and label hazardous waste at the production site before it is collected and transported, in accordance with the applicable regulations.

When handing over waste to a company for transport and treatment, waste owners/producers must ensure that the company has the necessary permits and therefore:

consult the National Register of Environmental Managers at: www.albonazionalegestoriambientali.it;
fill in a MUD - Modello Unico di Dichiarazione Ambientale (Single Environmental Declaration Form) according to the instructions on the EcoCamere website: www.ecocamere.it (only available in Italian).

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Hazardous waste

Producers of hazardous waste have the following obligations:

to identify the company authorised to treat/dispose of the waste on the basis of the hazardous substances or pollutants present;
authorised entities will be responsible for treating hazardous waste in such a way as to reduce hazards;
provide a financial guarantee covering any liabilities that might arise from their activities, depending on the characteristics of the waste treated, the hazards and the risk potential.

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Obligations of waste management operators

Waste management operators must: www.ecocamere.it/faqs/registroaee (only available in Italian)

ensure that waste is placed in a temporary storage facility under the conditions set out in their permit;
take out insurance or provide a financial guarantee in the case of facilities and companies carrying out hazardous waste treatment operations and when so required by the legislation governing certain types of waste or management operations;
not mix hazardous waste with other waste that has different hazardous characteristics or with other waste, substances or materials. The definition of mixing also includes diluting hazardous substances.

In addition, facilities and companies carrying out waste treatment activities must:

www.ecocamere.it/faqs/registroaee (only available in Italian)

treat the waste according to the terms of their permit and confirm this via the appropriate documents;
properly manage the waste generated as a result of the activity;
hand over waste for processing to authorised establishments and companies and trace these handovers through documents.

Facilities and companies that collect or transport waste on a professional basis must also:

collect and transport the waste in accordance with transport rules, other applicable regulations and contractual provisions;
during collection and transport, ensure that the waste is properly packaged and labelled in accordance with the international and EU legislation in force.

Lastly, operators and intermediaries must comply with what is stated in the activity report and with the terms and conditions stipulated in the contracts.

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Waste recovery – End of waste

“End of waste” is the process through which waste ceases to be waste - thanks to recovery procedures - and acquires the status of a product.

Under EU legislation: “Certain specified waste shall cease to be waste when it has undergone a recovery, including recycling, operation and complies with specific criteria to be developed in accordance with the following conditions:

the substance or object is commonly used for specific purposes;
a market or demand exists for such a substance or object;
the substance or object fulfils the technical requirements for the specific purposes and meets the existing legislation and standards applicable to products;
the use of the substance or object will not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts.”

For some specific types of waste, the criteria to be met to achieve end-of-waste status have been defined, while for other categories the adoption process is ongoing. Consult the specific legislation available at: https://www.mase.gov.it/pagina/end-waste (available in Italian only).

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Waste electrical and electronic equipment

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) that does not contain hazardous substances must be disposed of in order, to the extent possible, to recycle the raw materials and produce new products (“selective recovery”).

See also:
www.ecocamere.it/faqs/registroaee (only available in Italian)

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Authorisations and notifications concerning waste production and management

It is up to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces to authorise waste management, treatment and disposal activities. In particular, the following will have to apply for a permit:

facilities where waste treatment activities are to be carried out, including storage in the collection area pending treatment, and the expansion, substantial modification or relocation of such facilities;
entities planning to carry out one or more waste treatment operations.

Before commencing their activity, authorised entities must submit a notification to the Region or Autonomous Province in the following cases:

installation, expansion, substantial modification or relocation of industries generating hazardous waste or generating more than 1.000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste per year;
carrying out activities exempt from the need for a permit.

To the region or autonomous province in which their registered office is located:

non-associated waste collection companies;
professional waste transporters and intermediaries.

Operators which have obtained a waste treatment permit and which generate waste as a result of their activity are not required to submit the notification.

They will, however, continue to be considered waste producers for all other purposes regulated by law.

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Shipments of waste

Waste entering into and exiting national territory and transiting through the territory is governed by Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006.

Authorisation for such shipments is the responsibility of:

the Ministry of the Environment, for shipments of waste from or to third countries outside the EU;
the Regions or Autonomous Provinces, for the shipment of waste from or to EU countries.

In the case of shipments of waste that must be accompanied by a notification and transport document, the entity organising the shipment must provide that document:

in the case of shipments of waste from or to third countries outside the EU, to the customs authorities and to the Ministry of the Environment;
in the case of shipments of waste from or to EU countries, to the Regions or Autonomous Provinces.

Data on these shipments of waste is collected in the SISPED (“Electronic system for data collection for inspections of authorised waste shipments”), with a procedure of prior written notification and authorisation pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006.

Consult:
https://www.mase.gov.it/pagina/sisped (only available in Italian)

Transport between regions

Shipments of waste between regions must be accompanied by an identification document (“Identification form”, FIR) for supervision and control purposes.

Transport within the same region

The regions will adopt a supervision and control system for the transport of waste within their territory, taking into account, in any event, that it must be in line with the EU system for the shipment of waste established under Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006.

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Waste traceability

In order to ensure that waste transport checks are as effective as possible, a “National Electronic Register for Waste Traceability” (RENTRI) has been set up. It is managed by the Ministry of the Environment with the technical-operational support of the National Register of Environmental Managers and the Chamber of Commerce’s system.

The RENTRI provides businesses and the public system with data, services and information to promote the circular economy and waste recovery.

For information on waste traceability, please consult:

www.rentri.gov.it (only available in Italian)
https://www.mase.gov.it/pagina/tracciabilita-dei-rifiuti (only available in Italian)

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Extended producer responsibility

Producers of products that are destined to become waste once they have been used are subject to certain extended producer responsibility obligations. This is in order to promote waste reduction and facilitate the start-up of operations to prepare for re-use, recycling and recovery.

Extended producer responsibility systems identify the producer’s responsibilities, tasks and role in the organisation of recovery and recycling waste collection, through financial or financial/organisational responsibility for end-of-life management of waste from their products and by covering waste management costs through the systems themselves.

The specific legislation for each waste stream in which extended producer responsibility is regulated will need to be consulted.

Currently, the following waste streams are subject to specific regulations on extended producer responsibility:

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Sanctions regime

Dumping waste is forbidden; firms and organisations in violation of this will incur the following criminal and financial penalties:

in the case of dumping non-dangerous waste, imprisonment for between 3 months and 1 year or payment of a fine of EUR 2.600 to EUR 26.000;
in the case of dumping dangerous waste, imprisonment for between 6 months and 2 years and a fine of EUR 2.600 to EUR 26.000.

The unauthorised management of waste conducted by anyone carrying out waste collection, transport, salvage, disposal, trade and brokerage activities without the required permit, registration or notification is penalised as follows:

imprisonment of between 3 months and 1 year or a fine of EUR 2.600 to EUR 26.000, if it involves non-dangerous waste;
imprisonment of between 6 months and 2 years and a fine of EUR 2.600 to EUR 26.000, if it involves dangerous waste.

Failure to keep a log of any loading and unloading will incur an administrative fine of between EUR 2.600 and EUR 15.500.

If the log relates to dangerous waste, the administrative fine will range from EUR 15.500 to EUR 93.000.

If the information in the loading and unloading log is formally incomplete or inaccurate, but the data given in the communication to the land registry or in the forms or other accounting records held by law make it possible to reconstruct the information provided for, the administrative fine may vary from EUR 260 to EUR 2.550. The same penalty is applied in cases of failure to retain the loading and unloading log.

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Regional provisions and information

In order to protect the environment and human health, the legislation in force establishes the legal regime applicable to waste production and management in each region or autonomous province, with the objectives of promoting waste reduction, re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery.

Consult the provisions in force in your Region or Autonomous Province:

Image: MASE