Europe strengthens rules on urban wastewater treatment

In a final vote, the European Parliament today (Wednesday 10 April) updated the rules on the collection, treatment, and discharge of urban wastewater. The new rules are designed to strengthen the protection of the environment and human health, but Europe’s local authorities fear an explosion in the costs of implementation.

Since the introduction of regulations on urban wastewater treatment in the 1990s, water quality in the European Union has improved considerably. Today, 98% of wastewater is collected and treated under EU standards.

However, various cases of inadequate wastewater treatment and the presence of chemicals that are difficult to treat (such as PFAS, known as ‘forever chemicals’) continue to impact the environment and the health of Europeans.

In France, in December 2023, the Gironde prefecture banned the sale of oysters from the southwest Bay of Arcachon. On Tuesday 2 April, the Bordeaux judicial court blamed an inadequate sanitation system for the source of the contamination of these seafood products.

Improved treatment and surveillance

By 2035, all settlements with at least 1,000 inhabitants will have to ensure the elimination of biodegradable organic matter such as food waste or faeces.

Treatment to eliminate nitrogen and phosphorus will have to be in place for towns with more than 150,000 inhabitants by 2039 and then followed for towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants by 2045.

Micropollutants will be subject to advanced treatment for municipalities with a population of more than 150,000 by 2045.

The revised directive strengthens the monitoring of various infectious agents found in wastewater (viruses, pathogens, etc.), as well as chemical pollutants and microplastics.

In the specific case of forever chemicals (PFAS), the text’s rapporteur, Nils Torvalds (Renew, FI), told Euractiv that “We can also expect more emphasis on tackling PFAS in the future, as the Commission will evaluate the need for an additional extended producer responsibility scheme to remove PFAS remnants from the wastewater”.

Renewable-powered water treatment and water recycling

The new Directive also introduces increasing targets for the share of renewable energy used in the operation of urban waste water treatment plants, with the ultimate aim of achieving 100% renewable powered-treatment, by 2045.

The adopted text also calls on Member States particularly those subject to regular water stress – to promote the reuse of treated waste water as part of national water resilience strategies.

The polluter pays

To help cover the costs of additional treatment to remove micropollutants from urban wastewater, the directive includes the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for cosmetic products and medicinal products for human use.

Producers of these products will cover at least 80% of the costs of the new measures, with the remainder covered by national funding.

A 2020 estimate by the European Commission and OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) set the cost of implementing this and the drinking water directive at €289 billion by 2030.

Eurocities, a network of European cities, is calling for the European Cohesion Fund to be made available for the implementation of these new rules on wastewater treatment.

They are also calling for EPR to be introduced as soon as possible: “Successful Extended Producer Responsibility schemes should be in place before the investments are made to finance these developments.”

Oliver Loebel, Secretary General of EurEau, the European Federation of National Associations of Water Services, pointed out that it is “too early to make a clear statement on the effectiveness of these schemes. Much will depend on the national implementation.”

The text must now be approved by national ministers before it enters into EU law.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Rajnish Singh]

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