How Does CONAI Packaging EPR Work in Italy?

CONAI is Italy’s national packaging consortium, and it is the mechanism through which packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is delivered in Italy. If you place packaged goods on the Italian market, you generally join CONAI, declare the packaging you introduce, and pay an environmental contribution that funds the collection, recovery and recycling of packaging waste.

How the system is structured

CONAI acts as an umbrella over a set of material-specific consortia covering the main packaging streams — plastics, paper and board, glass, wood, steel and aluminium. The contribution you pay is calculated by material and weight, so the composition of your packaging directly affects what you owe. Those funds are redistributed to support the separate collection and recycling of packaging across Italy.

What it means for online sellers

If you ship into Italy, you are frequently the party first placing that packaging on the Italian market, which brings the CONAI obligation with it. Enrolling from abroad does not remove the duty.

• Enrol with CONAI as a producer or user of packaging.
• Declare the packaging you place on the market, by material and quantity.
• Pay the environmental contribution, which is weight- and material-based.

CONAI is the national EPR layer; the EU-wide PPWR (Regulation (EU) 2025/40) is the design layer, setting recyclability and minimisation rules — including the e-commerce empty-space limit. For more, see our complete PPWR guide and the PPWR law page. Contribution rates and reporting rules are set in Italian and change, so confirm the current detail with CONAI.

This answer is educational and does not constitute legal advice.