The Council of Europe has approved a revised European Union directive on urban wastewater treatment, expanding its scope to smaller agglomerations, covering more pollutants, including micropollutants, and contributing to energy neutrality.
The new rules represent a key achievement under the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan.
Under the revised directive, member states must collect and treat wastewater from all agglomerations with a population equivalent above 1,000, a measure used to calculate urban wastewater pollution, replacing the previous threshold of 2,000.
To better address pollution and prevent the discharge of untreated urban wastewater into the environment, all agglomerations between 1,000 and 2,000 population equivalents must be equipped with collection systems, and all sources of domestic wastewater must be connected to these systems by 2035.
For such agglomerations, by 2035, member states will need to remove biodegradable organic matter from urban wastewater (secondary treatment) before it is discharged into the environment.
Exemptions will apply to member states with very low coverage of collection systems, requiring significant investments. Recently joined EU member states that have already made substantial investments in implementing the current directive, such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia, may also benefit from derogations.
By 2039, the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus (tertiary treatment) will be mandatory for urban wastewater treatment plants handling loads of 150,000 population equivalents or more.
For these urban wastewater treatment plants, by 2045, member states will need to apply an additional treatment for removing micropollutants, known as quaternary treatment.
Additionally, manufacturers of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, identified as major sources of micropollutants in urban wastewater, will be required to contribute at least 80% of the additional costs for quaternary treatment through an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in line with the “polluter pays” principle.
The formal adoption of the revised directive marks the final step in the ordinary legislative procedure. The directive will now be signed and published in the Official Journal of the EU, entering into force 20 days after its publication.
EU member states will then have up to 31 months to align their national legislation with the new rules.
