Mandatory subjects and enrollment procedures

COMPANIES

Mandatory subjects and enrollment procedures

Who must join CONAI and how

Under current legislation (Article 221 of Legislative Decree 152/2006), producer and user companies are responsible for correct and effective environmental management of packaging and packaging waste generated from the consumption of their products, and this is the reason they participate in the National Packaging Consortium.

Producers include: producers and importers of raw materials intended for packaging, producers/processors and importers of semi-finished products intended for packaging, producers of empty packaging, importers/retailers of empty packaging.

Users include: purchasers/fillers of empty packaging, importers of “full packaging” (i.e. packaged goods), self-producers (who produce/repair packaging to pack their own goods), traders of full packaging (purchasers/retailers of packaged goods), traders of empty packaging (who purchase in Italy and resell the packaging without further processing).

The same Article 221 requires Producers to join one of the Packaging Material Consortia (Article 223 of the same decree). Alternatively, Producers may “organise independently, also collectively, the management of their packaging waste” or “implement a return system for their packaging […]”.

Foreign companies are not obliged to join CONAI, but they may do so voluntarily.

For foreign companies placing products on the Italian market through e‑commerce platforms, Article 178-quater of Legislative Decree 152/2006 provides that they may fulfil their extended producer responsibility obligations through the simplified procedures set out in agreements between platforms and EPR systems. If the company decides not to use the services offered by the platform, it must join CONAI and fulfil all related requirements.

Excluded parties

In general, end users of packaging are excluded from the obligation to join CONAI – that is, entities that purchase packaged goods for their business activity or for personal use, but do not carry out any marketing or distribution of the packaged goods purchased.

This exclusion of end users from the obligation to join CONAI described above does not apply in the following three cases:

If such entities carry out any commercial activity, even marginal, using the purchased packaged goods

If they purchase packaged goods or empty packaging directly from abroad for use in their activity

If they purchase empty packaging in Italy for use in their activity

Companies falling under one (or more) of these three cases must join CONAI for the relevant activity, even if marginal.

Furthermore, companies are exempt from joining CONAI if they exclusively use packaging covered by a Self‑compliant EPR Organisation (Article 221, paragraph 3, letters a) and c) of Legislative Decree 152/2006) and have obtained the relevant recognition.

Finally, under Article 11, paragraph 2 of Law 154/2016 (“Agricultural Annex”), agricultural businesses are not required to join CONAI or pay the related registration fee. They may still join voluntarily and independently. Regardless of membership, these companies remain subject to the EPR Fee on empty and/or filled packaging (packaged goods) purchased in Italy and/or imported.