Mandatory confiscation for those who abandon waste: the new decree comes into effect

Starting today, October 31, 2026, anyone who abandons waste, manages it without authorization, or ships it illegally risks not only punishment but also the loss of the tools used to commit the crime and any profits gained. This is the effect of Legislative Decree 186/2026, published in the Official Gazette, which implements European Directive 2024/1260 on the recovery and confiscation of assets for various types of crime.

The decree introduces two new legal instruments into the penal code: equivalent confiscation of instrumental assets and third-party confiscation. Additionally, three mandatory confiscations are incorporated into the environmental code, applicable even in cases of plea bargaining, for the crimes of waste abandonment (both hazardous and non-hazardous) and for the aggravating circumstance of business activity.

The new legislation stems from the need to make sanctions against environmental crimes more effective, particularly the illegal dumping of waste, a chronic problem in Italy. The European Directive 2024/1260, on which the Italian decree is based, aims to strengthen transnational confiscation tools to target the profits derived from criminal activities.

Before this reform, sanctions for waste dumping were primarily financial or custodial, but often failed to significantly impact the economic advantage gained or the instruments used for the crime. The new system introduces the mandatory confiscation of the means (such as trucks or equipment) used for dumping waste and of illicit profits, even when these assets are no longer directly available, through the mechanism of equivalent confiscation of other assets belonging to the convicted individual.