Who can join

According to existing legislation (Article 221 of Legislative Decree 152/2006), producer and user companies are responsible for the proper and effective environmental management of any packaging and packaging waste produced in the consumption of their products and consequently required to join the National Packaging Consortium.

‘Producers‘ shall mean: producers and importers of raw materials used in packaging, producers/processors and importers of semi-finished products used in packaging, producers of empty packaging and importers/sellers of empty packaging.

‘Users’ shall mean: any buyers/fillers of empty packaging, importers of “filled packaging” (i.e. packaged goods), self-producers (who produce/repair packaging for their own goods), retailers of filled packaging (buyers/sellers of packaged goods), and retailers of empty packaging (who purchase this packaging in Italy and resell it without any extra processing).

Article 221 requires that producers join one of the Packaging Material Consortia (pursuant to Article 223 of this decree). Alternatively, producers may “independently or collectively manage their own packaging waste” or “implement a return system for their own packaging […]”.

Penalties for failure to join

Article 261, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree 152/06, replaced by art. 11, paragraph 3, of Law 154 of 28 July 2016 (“Collegato Agricolo” farming act) states that “[…] producers and users who fail to comply […] shall be liable for a 5,000 euro fine.”

CONAI must be paid the membership fee in any event, as well as any past fees due. In paragraph 2, the article states that “producers of packaging who […] fail to join the consortia […] shall be liable for a fine ranging from fifteen thousand five hundred Euros to forty-six thousand five hundred Euros.”

Italy’s competent bodies are responsible for levying these fines (art. 262, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree 152/06 and Law 56 of 7 April 2014).

Exempt parties

End users of packaging, i.e. those who buy goods packaged for the purpose of carrying out their business or for their own consumption, but do not market or distribute the packaged goods purchased, are generally exempt from the obligation to join CONAI.

The end user exemption defined above from the obligation to join CONAI does not apply in the following three cases:

• when such parties engage in business activities with the packaged goods purchased, even where it is marginal to their main activity;
• when such parties directly purchase packaged goods or empty packaging from suppliers outside Italy for use in their business;
• when such parties purchase empty packaging from domestic suppliers for use in their business.

Companies falling into one (or more) of these three cases are required to join CONAI for the activity concerned, however marginal.

Companies that only use packaging from one of the autonomous schemes – set out in Art. 221, paragraph 3, letters a) and c) of Legislative Decree 152/2006 – and have obtained due recognition are also exempt from the obligation to join CONAI.

Finally, pursuant to art. 11, paragraph 2 of Law 154/2016 (the so-called “Collegato Agricolo” farming act), farms are not required to join CONAI, nor are they required to pay the relevant membership fee. They are still free to join voluntarily of their own accord. Even where they are not CONAI members, these businesses are still required to pay the EPR fee on empty and/or filled packaging (packaged goods) purchased in Italy and/or imported.

For further information please see  Guide to CONAI membership and EPR fee application