Cigarette butt disposal: the transition to the new EER code 20.01.99 is official.

Important regulatory and environmental developments regarding the management of tobacco product waste with filters in Italy.

With the very recent Resolution no. 2 of 20 May 2026 , the National Committee of the Register of Environmental Managers has implemented the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) of 26 March 2026, decreeing a turning point in the classification of this type of waste.

Cigarette butts are changing their regulatory “identity”: they are abandoning the old generic code EER 20.03.99 to adopt the new specific code EER 20.01.99 – Waste tobacco products with filters (smoking product butts).

What changes at a regulatory level?

The introduction of the EER 20.01.99 code represents a step forward in traceability and optimization of the recycling chain . This decision stems from the need to uniquely isolate and identify tobacco residues from other urban waste, incentivizing and promoting the recovery and reuse of the cellulose acetate present in filters.

The new resolution repeals and replaces the previous provision from 2019, confirming however that collection and transport activities remain anchored to Category 1 (collection and transport of urban waste) with requirements based on annual quantities, precisely to promote the circular economy at the national level.

Re-Cig is already ready and authorized

At RE-CIG, we believe that timeliness is everything when it comes to sustainability and regulatory compliance. For this reason, we moved immediately to implement the ministerial directive.

• Update to the Register of Environmental Managers: our registration in the Register has already been updated with the official inclusion of the new EER code 20.01.99.

• Approval from APPA Trento: On May 25, 2026, we sent formal notification to the Provincial Environmental Protection Agency (APPA) of Trento . The agency assessed the transition to the new code as a non-substantial change , integrating the current authorization with the new EER code.

Note to our partners and customers: this bureaucratic update does not entail any changes to the annual quantities managed or the waste treatment methods. 

Our Civezzano (TN) plant will continue to operate at full capacity, transforming cigarette butts into new plastic and preventing them from ending up in the environment or in landfill . Our recovery procedures and our End of Waste sub-appendix remain valid and optimized to accommodate the flows marked by the new code.

We are proud to once again be at the forefront of ensuring our partners have a transparent, safe, and 100% compliant recycling supply chain with the latest state regulations.