The Plastics Industry in Italy

10 July 2025

The plastics value chain is a strategic pillar of Italy’s industrial base, generating €57 billion in revenues (2nd in the EU-27), €15.3 billion in value added, and supporting 164,000 jobs. The European regulatory context is particularly salient for the development of the plastic industry value chain and the recent European Commission – i.e. the Clean Industrial Deal and Omnibus Package – are important steps to restore industrial competitiveness. The forthcoming Chemicals Industry Package will be a key opportunity to rebalance ambition with feasibility.

In this context, TEHA Group, has realized the Study "The Plastics Industry in Italy: Strategy and Action Plan to Support Competitiveness and Circularity" highlighting how the complementarity between mechanical and chemical recycling can significantly increase circularity while supporting the competitiveness of the industry. This analysis widens the scope of our 2022 Study, "The circularity of plastics: industrial opportunities, innovation and economic-occupational benefits for Italy".

In a rapidly changing European context, characterised by a growing regulatory push towards sustainability and increasingly challenging market dynamics, the it seeks to clearly identify the key strategies and actions needed to improve the competitiveness and circularity of Italy's plastics value chain. In particular, it highlights that a 2.6 billion euro investment in chemical recycling would enable the treatment of 13.6% of national plastic waste, covering up to 70% of national raw material needs if combined with mechanical recycling by 2040.

The Study was conducted for the project's partners: Federchimica – PlasticsEurope Italia, Federazione Gomma Plastica – Unionplast, Associazione nazionale costruttori di macchine e stampi per materie plastiche e gomma – Amaplast, PVC Forum Italia, IIPR – Istituto per la Promozione delle Plastiche da riciclo, COREPLA, Biorepack, Arkema, Basell Poliolefine Italia, BASF Italia, COIM, SABIC Italia, and Versalis.