From Plastic Tops to Composting Bags — 6 Ways Italy Makes Recycling Easy

This one's more about waste policy abroad than a home upgrade you can make, but it's worth knowing what's possible elsewhere. Italy has pushed its recycling rate from under 10 percent in 1997 to over 60 percent in 2020, and a lot of that comes down to a few simple rules, most set by the European Union rather than Italy alone.

Since 2023, Italian law requires packaging to state exactly how to recycle each part, so a yogurt cup tells you the lid goes with metal, the container with plastic, and the label with paper. Food composting is mandatory nationwide, using compostable bags handed out at grocery stores, a stark contrast to the US, where only about a third of the country has access to food composting. Since 2018, produce and shopping bags across Italy have been made of compostable plastic instead of the regular kind, cutting down on litter. And starting in 2024, EU rules required plastic bottle caps to stay attached to the bottle itself, a small design change aimed at reducing one of the most common types of beach litter.

None of this changes what's available to you right now if you live in North America, since these are EU and Italian rules, not ones in place here. But it's a look at how much easier recycling becomes when packaging labeling, composting access, and bag materials are standardized rather than left up to each household to figure out.