Companies that release the most micropollutants will have to cover the costs of wastewater treatment. This is set out in a new European directive.
The polluter pays is one of the cornerstones of European environmental law. It is enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the foundation of Union law: if a company causes environmental damage, it must be held responsible and do everything necessary to prevent or remedy its consequences. At its own expense. Before long, this principle will be extended to urban wastewater treatment as well. The companies that release the most micropollutants, including microplastics, will bear the bulk of the additional costs: namely cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies.
This is what the new European directive on urban wastewater treatment provides for, on which a provisional political agreement was reached between the Parliament and the Council on Monday 29 January.
A directive on wastewater already exists, but this revision seeks to broaden it, first and foremost by requiring the establishment of wastewater collection systems for all urban agglomerations of at least 1,000 population equivalents (rather than 2,000, as the current text stipulates). Some exemptions are provided for and, in any case, there will be time until 2035 to comply with this provision. The other major objective is to bring this sector into line with the goals of the European Green Deal. To this end, by 2045 urban wastewater treatment plants will be required to produce energy from renewable sources, either on-site or elsewhere.
Formal adoption is still pending: after that, the directive will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force after twenty days. Member states will have until 2026 to submit their action plans.
One of the most significant new elements directly concerns cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies. There are in fact several types of wastewater treatment: secondary treatment involves removing biodegradable organic matter, tertiary treatment reduces the load of phosphorus and nitrogen, while quaternary treatment focuses on the most difficult contaminants, such as pharmaceutical compounds, other micropollutants and microplastics.
By 2045, member states will have to ensure that the largest plants are also capable of handling quaternary treatment. All of this, however, comes at an additional cost. And it will be pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies themselves that cover up to 80 per cent of it, since they are responsible for generating the bulk of this contamination.
