The European Commission has put Italy on notice, which now risks facing an EU infringement procedure, for the incorrect transposition of the Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) Directive No 2019/904/EC.
1) Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) Directive, transposition in Italy
Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) Directive No 2019/904/EC, as we have seen, is a fundamental piece in the Circular Economy Package for waste reduction in various production and consumption sectors. The SUPs directive aims to reduce the use of disposable plastic packaging and was implemented in Italy with Legislative Decree no. 8 November. 196. (1)
The Italian provision, as well as the SUPs directive, introduces a ban on the placing on the market of a series of disposable objects such as cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks), plates, straws, drink stirrers, food and drink containers, as well as the sole glasses and cups in expanded polystyrene (Legislative Decree 196/21, article 5.1 and Annex, Part BV note 2).
2) Italy, national exceptions
The implementation of the SUPs directive into Italian law, as noted by the author at the time, (2) however provides for some exceptions not contemplated in the European provision:
– the definition of 'plastic' excludes the 'plastic coverings having a weight of less than 10% of the total weight of the product, which do not constitute the main structural component of the finished products'. A ploy that effectively removes plastic-coated cardboard plates and glasses from the ban
– disposable items in biodegradable and compostable plastic, if certified as compliant with the European standards UNI EN 13432 or UNI EN 14995 and produced with at least 40% renewable raw material (60%, from 1.1.24), are also excluded from the ban.
3) Italy's formal notice, risk of EU infringement
The European executive, two and a half years after the transposition of the SUPs directive in Italy, has notified the Rome government of a letter of formal notice - which precedes the start of an infringement procedure - for the following reasons:
– failure to comply with the Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) Directive No 2019/904 on single-use plastic objects
– violation of the notification procedure of national technical regulations in Brussels, pursuant to TRIS (Technical Regulations Information System) Directive (EU) No 2015/1535.
The letter of formal notice, dated May 23, 2024, grants the Italian government (as is customary) two months to provide justifications and present its arguments.
4) Complaints
The disputes of the European Commission concern 13 points of Legislative Decree 196/2021, in addition to the failure to notify Brussels of the provision in advance, according to what was reported by the magazine Polimerica which had access to the letter of formal notice.
In addition to the two exemptions referred to in the previous paragraph, the European Commission in fact accuses Italy of:
– incentives for the purchase and use of products made with biodegradable and/or compostable materials (only in Italy exempt from the European ban)
– the limitations of extended producer responsibility to the mere coverage of waste collection costs for the products concerned'in proportion to the weight of the plastic component compared to that of the product' (Legislative Decree 196/2021, art. 8)
– the marking of packaging
– the improper use, in some articles of the decree, of the reference to the national territory
– some secondary definitions, including that of port reception facility
– omissions in the rules regarding the sale, recovery and monitoring of fishing gear containing plastic. (3)
5) Italy, champion of EU infringements
The infringement procedures open against Italy are already 65, reports the Department for European Affairs at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, led by Minister Raffaele Fitto. (4)
Non-compliance with the commitments undertaken within the EU, it is worth noting, results in imposition of milion euro fines on member states. As seen in the case of serious non-compliance with urban wastewater treatment. (5)
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Legislative Decree. 8.11.21 n. 196. Implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. In GU 30.11.21, General Series n. 285, Ordinary Supplement n. 41. https://bit.ly/31bzmOp
(2) Dario Dongo, Luca Foltran. SUP Directive, Legislative Decree 196/21. New rules on single-use plastic items from 14.1.22. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
(3) SUP, this is what the EU disputes with Italy. Polymeric. 22.7.24 https://www.polimerica.it/articolo.asp?id=32258
(4) See http://eurinfra.politichecomunitarie.it/ElencoAreaLibera.aspx
(5) Dario Dongo, Giulia Torre. Wastewater in agriculture, public health and food safety. EU rules and the Italian disaster. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
A professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic studies on food and has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
