After several extensions, it appears that from the 1st of January 2023, the Italian legislative decree number 116 (which transposes two European directives number 851 and 852 of year 2018), on waste, packaging and packaging waste, will enter into force. The decree will affect the fruit and vegetable sectors regarding the composition of the materials used for packaging and the disposal thereof.
Italy was the first European country to issue a legislative decree on the subject in 2020. However, there have been several extensions with the pandemic resulting in further delays. The law currently only concerns the Italian domestic market but other EU member states are expected to enact similar legislation on packaging. Thus, it will be extremely important for suppliers to address the impacts of the new legislation with both Italian and European customers in order to collect all useful information related to packaging needs according to the different distribution channels.