La gestione dei rifiuti di imballaggio in Italia: profili e criticità concorrenziali

The paper offers an economic and legal analysis of some of the main issues of competition in the packaging waste management system in Italy. The main goal of the research is to identify possible trade-off between two interests: the full and timely achievement of the environmental targets (recycling and recovering, waste prevention and waste management transparency); and the improvement of competition in the packaging waste management market, taking into consideration the economic and administrative Italian framework. Recently the Italian model of packaging waste management was criticised for a supposed inadequate competitiveness related to: a) a lack of a real choice among the Conai-Consorzi di filiera EPR compliance system and others EPR schemes; b) some management choices of the Conai-Consorzi di filiera system concerning the financing mechanism through the CAC; c) the activity of waste collecting (not only packaging) in public spaces, with possible consequences on the current municipal exclusive-right regime. The main findings of the Research are the following: 1. the market of waste management packaging presents an high risk of cherry picking, thus requiring a legal framework able to guarantee a universal service; 2. the market of waste collection in public spaces also presents a similar risk of cherry picking; 3. the CAC payment regulated by Conai-Consorzi di filiera system is a way of overcoming the cherry picking phenomenon; 4. a CAC determination according to the real environmental impact of packaging can create a competitive incentive for increasing the production of more eco-friendly packaging.