EurEau welcomes the decision of the General Court of the European Union to dismiss as inadmissible the lawsuits brought by pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies and associations against the provisions on extended producer responsibility (EPR) in the recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD; EU 2024/3019).
The recast UWWTD introduces the obligation of quaternary treatment, which aims at removing a broad spectrum of micropollutants from urban wastewater, which will involve additional costs. To cover costs and align with the polluter-pays principle in Article 191(2) TFEU, pharmaceutical and cosmetics producers should be responsible for covering at least 80% of the additional treatment costs needed to remove micropollutants from urban wastewater at the end of their products’ life. As the Directive concludes, an EPR system is the most appropriate means to achieve this, as it would limit the financial impact on consumers and businesses, while providing an incentive to develop greener products.
The original 1991 UWWTD was a key piece of legislation in human and environmental protection, through shielding water bodies receiving discharges from urban wastewater treatment plants. The Court’s decision allows the recast UWWTD, which embeds the One-Health approach and sets more stringent treatment as well as new requirements for urban wastewater, to allow the sector realise its role as guardians of the environment and human health.
It’s now time to focus on the implementation of the recast UWWTD, particularly on the EPR. We remain open to collaborating with the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors, as well as with other relevant stakeholders, to achieve an effective and efficient EPR system.