Mandatory compostable packaging: Conversion Law 173 comes into force

Law 5 October 2026, n. 173 converts into law, with amendments, decree-law 7 August 2026, n. 143 and introduces a compostability obligation for certain types of packaging placed on the national market for the first time. The text is published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series n. 232 of 6 October 2026, with official reference 26G00193, and enters into force the day following its publication.

The decree-law had been published in the Official Gazette, General Series n. 182 of 7 August 2026 and had entered into force on 8 August 2026; the conversion law was promulgated by the President of the Republic Mattarella and countersigned by the President of the Council Meloni, the Minister for European Affairs, the PNRR and Cohesion Policies Foti, and the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Pichetto Fratin, with the visa of the Minister of Justice Nordio. The law inserts into part four of legislative decree 3 April 2006, n. 152 the new article 226-quinquies, which mandates that the affected packaging be certified as biodegradable and compostable by accredited bodies, in accordance with the UNI EN 13432 standard or equivalent standards recognized at the European level.

Packaging subject to the obligation

• Single-use plastic packaging for the packaging of less than 1.5 kg of pre-packaged fresh fruit and vegetable products.
• Single-use plastic packaging for food and beverages filled and intended for consumption on the premises of the hotel, restaurant, and catering sector.
• Single-use plastic packaging from the hotel, restaurant, and catering sector containing individual portions of condiments, preserves, sauces, coffee cream, and sugar.
• Single-use flexible packaging for cosmetics and hygiene products intended for the hospitality sector, as described in the ATECO 2025 classification, for individual booking and disposed of before the arrival of the next guest.

Excluded from the obligations are packaging provided with ready-to-eat takeaway food intended for immediate consumption without further preparation and those necessary to ensure safety and hygiene in facilities with an average requirement for individual care, such as hospitals, clinics, and healthcare residential facilities. The conversion law added, for flexible packaging in the hospitality sector, the condition that the biodegradability and compostability of the contained product must be certified.

Exemption for prepackaged fresh fruit and vegetables

The new paragraph 2-bis, introduced by the conversion, suspends the obligation, pending the European Commission guidelines provided for by Article 25, paragraph 6, of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, for packaging containing prepackaged fresh fruit and vegetable products:

• fruit: stone fruits (cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums), berries and small fruits (table grapes, mini-kiwis, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, blueberries), fruits with skin (kiwis, passion fruits, figs, prickly pears, pitaya, avocados), pome fruits (pears and apples ripe for consumption) and persimmons;
• vegetables: leafy vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, brassicas, fruit vegetables, garden legumes, root and tuber vegetables, stem vegetables, small-sized highly fragile vegetables, fresh aromatic herbs, cultivated mushrooms, and IV gamma ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables.

Sanctions and effective date

The conversion adds paragraph 4-quinquies to Article 261 of Legislative Decree no. 152 of April 3, 2006: the violation of obligations, including through declarations of conformity or misleading wording, is punished by an administrative pecuniary sanction from 2,500 to 25,000 euros, increased up to four times the maximum if the value of the packaging exceeds 10 percent of the offender’s turnover. The sanction does not apply to the economic operator who proves to have acquired the packaging based on suitable documentation provided by the manufacturer, importer, or distributor, unless they were aware of the non-compliance or it was evident; the paragraph applies starting from January 1, 2030. The ban on single-use plastic products referred to in Legislative Decree no. 196 of November 8, 2021, remains in force, and no new or increased burdens on public finances are foreseen.

For the packaging industry, distribution, and the hotel and catering sector, the law sets a new standard of compliance, with UNI EN 13432 certifications and sanctions taking effect from 2030; for consumers, the composition of trays, jars, and single-use packaging changes, while prepackaged fresh fruit and vegetables remain excluded from the obligation for now.

Official source: Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series no. 232 of October 6, 2026 — Law no. 173 of October 5, 2026 (26G00193).