Packaging decree: crackdown on disposable plastic with biodegradability and compostability obligation
Quick Look
- The packaging decree approved by the Senate introduces biodegradability and compostability obligations for single-use plastic packaging, in force from 8 August, with a deadline for conversion into law set at 6 October 2026.
- The text aims to protect the environment, promote the circular economy and support innovation in the bioplastics sector.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The packaging decree was approved by the Council of Ministers on 4 August, published in the Official Journal on 7 August and assigned to the Senate Environment Committee in the first half of September. The text transposes the EU regulation on packaging (Ppwr) in force from February 2025.
From fruit, vegetable and drink wrappers to cosmetics used by hotels, there are numerous products affected by the crackdown on disposable plastic contained in the packaging decree approved by the Senate. The measures have been in force since 8 August and aim to bind the placing on the market of some specific single-use plastic packaging to compliance with biodegradability and compostability criteria.
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The objectives include protecting the environment and natural resources, reducing the environmental impacts of single-use plastic and promoting the circular economy. For the decree to become law we will have to wait for the definitive green light from the Chamber.
The process of converting the legislative decree into law, which was approved during the Council of Ministers on Tuesday 4 August and published in the Official Journal on 7 August, began in the first half of September with the assignment of the text to the Environment Commission. The deadline for final approval is set for October 6, 2026.
The text of the law makes the criteria that single-use plastic packaging must comply with when placed on the national market for the first time more restrictive. Specifically, in addition to respecting the formats and uses permitted by the EU regulation in force from February 2025, the Ppwr (Packaging and packaging waste regulation), the packaging must be certified by accredited bodies as biodegradable and compostable in compliance with European standards.
The executive's objective is to comply with community rules without damaging the industry. In fact, the decree also aims to provide support for industrial innovation and the competitiveness of companies operating in the compostable bioplastics sector, as well as promoting technological and production innovation in the compostable packaging sector.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Chamber will definitively approve the packaging decree by 6 October 2026.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What sanctions are foreseen for failure to comply with the new criteria?
- How will biodegradability and compostability certification be monitored?
- Which companies will be directly affected by the new provisions?
