EU Court rejects lawsuits from the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry against EPR

The General Court of the European Union has dismissed the lawsuits brought by pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies and their trade associations against the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) provisions in the recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) on 18 February.

The European umbrella organisation for water service companies, EurEau, welcomes the decision of the General Court of the European Union. The revised UWWTD introduces a requirement for quaternary treatment, which aims to remove a wide range of micro-organisms from municipal wastewater. Extended treatment entails additional costs.

Polluter pays principle

EurEau believes that the polluter pays principle should apply. “…according to Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), producers of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics should be responsible for covering at least 80 percent of the additional treatment costs required to remove micropollutants from wastewater at the end of the product’s life cycle,” EurEau writes in a press release. EurEau believes that an EPR system is the most appropriate way to achieve this, as it limits the economic impact on consumers and businesses while creating incentives for the development of more environmentally friendly products, just as the directive states.

New wastewater requirements

“The original 1991 UWWTD was an important piece of legislation to protect both people and the environment by protecting water bodies receiving discharges from municipal 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,” says EurEau.