Panel 1
Gabriella Aragona, Lucia Muto
The indicator measures the total quantity of special waste started for the recovery operations (R1-R12) referred to in Annex C of Legislative Decree 152/2006. In 2023 the quantities of recovered special waste are consistent, equal to 74.1% of the total managed (178.9 million tons) and the trend is constantly growing (+1.8% in the last three years). The total amount of special waste recovered amounts to 132.6 million tons, of which 4.1 million tons are dangerous. The region with the greater quantity of special waste recovered is Lombardy (27.7%of the recovered total), followed by Veneto (10.8%) and Emilia-Romagna (8.5%).
The indicator measures the total quantity of special waste started for the recovery operations (R1-R12) referred to in Annex C of Legislative Decree 152/2006.
Check the effectiveness of waste management policies with particular reference to the incident of the recovery and reuse of waste, both of matter and energy.
Legislative Decree 152/06, in line with the European strategy on waste management, in art. 181, paragraph 3, establishes the adoption of measures aimed at promoting the recovery of waste in accordance with priority criteria (art. 179), or, in compliance with the following hierarchy:
• Prevention,
• Preparation for reuse,
• Recycling,
• other recovery (e. g. Energy recovery) and disposal.
In addition, paragraph 3 itself, establishes that high quality recycling of recycling must be adopted. In article 183, paragraph 1, letter u), it is expressly defined as recycling: "any recovery operation through which waste is treated to obtain products, materials or substances to be used for their original function or for other purposes".
Panel 2
ISPRA - Special waste report - 2025 edition
Data quality assessment
Mud database, not accessible to the public
National, regional
1997-2023
Indicator assessment
The indicator is built by adding the quantities of special waste recovered according to the following recovery operations: R1: main use as fuel or as other means to produce energy; R2: regeneration/recovery of solvents; R3: recycling/recovery of organic substances not used as solvents (including composting operations and other biological transformations); R4: recycling/recovery of metals and metal compounds; R5: recycling/recovery of other inorganic substances; R6: regeneration of acids or bases; R7: recovery of products that serve to reduce pollution; R8: recovery of products from catalysts; R9: regeneration or other reuse of oils; R10: treatment in the terrestrial environment for the benefit of agriculture or ecology; R11: Use of waste obtained by one of the operations indicated by R1 A R10; R12: exchange of waste to submit them to one of the operations indicated by R1 at R11. The national figure is provided disaggregated by region.
The quantities of special waste recovered are substantial, accounting for 74.1% of the total managed (178.9 million tonnes), equal to 132.6 million tonnes (Table 1).
Between 1997 and 2023, the trend shows continuous growth, with the only significant decline (-2.6%), likely due to the economic crisis, occurring in 2012 compared to 2011 (Table 1), in line with the decrease in quantities produced (-3%). In particular, over the last decade (2014–2023), the quantities of special waste recovered increased by 54.7%.
Data
Table 1: Trend in the quantity of special waste recovered in Italy
ISPRA
a The operations considered for the calculation of recovered special waste are as follows:
R1: Use principally as a fuel or other means of generating energy,
R2: Solvent reclamation/regeneration,
R3: Recycling/recovery of organic substances not used as solvents (including composting and other biological transformations),
R4: Recycling/recovery of metals and metal compounds,
R5: Recycling/recovery of other inorganic substances,
R6: Regeneration of acids or bases,
R7: Recovery of components used to capture pollutants,
R8: Recovery of components from catalysts,
R9: Oil re-refining or other reuses of oil,
R10: Land treatment resulting in benefit to agriculture or ecological improvement,
R11: Use of waste obtained from any of the operations numbered R1 to R10,
R12: Exchange of waste for submission to any of the operations numbered R1 to R11.
The total quantity of special waste recovered from 2011 onwards also includes operation R12, which had not been considered in previous years.
Table 2: Quantity of total special waste and hazardous special waste recovered by region
ISPRA
Figure 1: Quantity of special waste recovered
ISPRA
The total quantity of special waste recovered (operations R1 to R12) in 2023 amounted to 132.6 million tonnes, of which approximately 4.1 million tonnes were hazardous. Compared to 2022 (129.4 million tonnes recovered), an increase of 2.4% was recorded (Table 1). Among the regions with the highest quantities of recovered special waste, Lombardy stands out (27.7% of the total recovered), followed by Veneto (10.8%) and Emilia-Romagna (8.5%) (Table 2 and Figure 1).