In response to a parliamentary question from MEP Valentina Palmisano (The Left), Commissioner for Environment Jessika Roswall outlined a series of EU measures aimed at addressing the structural crisis in Italy's plastic recycling sector, where saturation of sorting facilities and a shift by manufacturers toward cheaper virgin polymers threaten separate collection and the circular economy. The answer signals the Commission's intention to boost demand for recycled plastics while ensuring fair competition with imports, impacting EU recyclers, plastic producers, importers, and environmental groups.
The question, submitted on 10 February 2026, highlighted that Italian regions like Puglia face a genuine risk of suspending separate waste collection due to overflowing storage and the economic crisis in the recycling chain, exacerbated by low fossil fuel prices making virgin polymers more cost-competitive. Palmisano also raised concerns about imports from non-EU countries not subject to the same environmental and recycling standards, distorting the internal market.
Roswall's answer, while not announcing new legislative proposals, points to several existing and upcoming measures. She notes that in December 2025, the Commission adopted a communication with a package of measures to accelerate the circular economy, including separate customs codes for virgin and recycled plastics and monitoring of global markets to inform potential trade measures. On 6 February 2026, the Commission secured Member State support in comitology for new rules on recycled content in PET plastic beverage bottles under the Single-Use Plastics Directive, with the draft act currently pending adoption.
The answer also references safeguards in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (Article 7(10)) ensuring imported plastic recyclates meet equivalent conditions on emissions, separate collection, and sustainability criteria, with an implementing act planned by end of 2026. Similar provisions are included in the provisionally agreed End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation provides enabling conditions through circularity requirements on recyclability and recycled content.
Policy orientation and ambition
The Commission's approach is to balance boosting demand for recycled plastics with ensuring a sustainable supply, using a mix of regulatory measures (recycled content mandates, ecodesign rules), trade instruments (customs codes, anti-dumping duties), and monitoring. The answer reflects a moderate ambition: it relies on existing frameworks and upcoming implementing acts rather than proposing new binding instruments like mandatory minimum quotas for recycled plastic use across all sectors, as Palmisano suggested. The Commission instead points to sector-specific rules (PET bottles) and enabling conditions.
Expected institutional follow-up
The implementing act on imported recyclates under the Packaging Regulation is expected by end of 2026. The comitology decision on PET bottle recycled content is pending formal adoption. Further trade measures may follow from ongoing monitoring and investigations. The Commission's communication from December 2025 sets the strategic direction, but concrete legislative follow-up remains incremental.
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