EU to mandate cosmetic firms to cover micropollutant costs in new wastewater rules

30 Jan 2024 --- The EU says it will force cosmetic companies to pay 80% of extra micropollutant clean-up costs to try to protect the environment and bolster industry responsibility. The European Council and Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on revising the urban wastewater treatment directive.

“The agreement with the parliament puts us on the right track to reach our zero-pollution objective for Europe. It paves the way for the highest standards to be set for treating urban wastewater and monitoring it so that it does not release harmful substances, like microplastics or PFAS, into the environment,” says Alain Maron, minister of the government of the Brussels-Capital region, Belgium.

While the council acknowledges the effectiveness of the current directive in reducing water pollution over the last three decades, the revision seeks to broaden its scope and align it with the European Green Deal. 

The new regulations include steps to attain energy neutrality and increase producer responsibility by acknowledging the wastewater treatment industry’s potential to lower GHG emissions within the EU.

Alain Maron, minister of the government of the Brussels-Capital region, Belgium.“With the agreement reached today, we ensure not only cleaner water for all Europeans but so much more — better access to sanitation, implementing the polluter pays principle and energy autonomy. These changes will completely revolutionize the sector and make it more resilient for decades to come,” comments Virginijus Sinkevičius, commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries. 

Extended producer responsibility
The council states producers of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics leading to urban wastewater pollution will bear at least 80% of the costs for micropollutant removal, adhering to the polluter pays principle. This measure aims to reduce citizens’ financial burdens while incentivizing responsible production practices.

The co-legislators gave member states some leeway in allocating the remaining expenses. Furthermore, producers will have to pay for the costs associated with collecting and confirming information about products sold. 

Co-legislators also assigned the EU Commission (EC) to evaluate how this provision might affect medicine’s affordability and accessibility.

Scope of the directive
To address pollution from smaller agglomerations, the council extends the scope of the directive to include all agglomerations of 1,000 population equivalent (p.e.) and above. This expansion aims to enhance wastewater treatment standards and ensure fair contribution from all sectors to pollution mitigation efforts.

The agreement requires establishing urban wastewater collection systems in agglomerations of 1,000 p.e. or more, with a deadline of 2035. 

The new rule is “opposed to the 2,000 p.e. in the current directive.”

Wastewater treatments
The council says secondary treatment — removal of biodegradable organic matter — obligations will apply to all agglomerations of 1,000 p.e. or more by 2035. Exemptions will apply for smaller agglomerations and recent EU member states, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. 

Virginijus Sinkevičius, commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.Additionally, tertiary and quaternary treatment deadlines have been aligned to ensure comprehensive pollutant removal by 2045.

Furthermore, the council will require urban wastewater treatment plants to become energy-neutral by 2045, utilizing renewable energy sources and conducting regular energy audits.

Future outlook
The provisional agreement will be submitted to the member states’ representatives within the Council and the Parliament’s environment committee for endorsement.

If approved, the EU Parliament and the Council will formally adopt the new directive before it can enter into force. It will then enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

Industry response
In September, Cosmetics Europe published a statement flagging various concerns about the new rules for treating urban wastewater:

“The European cosmetic sector is overall concerned with the workability of the proposed system, which is not based on sound scientific justifications and does not ensure fairness for economic operators,” stated the personal care association.

“The impact assessment accompanying the proposal does not provide clear scientific reasoning as to why the cosmetics sector has been chosen.”

“In this respect, we welcome the recognition by the ENVI Committee of the fact that micropollutants can come from different sources. However, we believe that a sector-based approach is not fit for the directive, and a defined list of micropollutants would be a better means to identify those companies whose products contain such substances and who need to contribute to EPR schemes,” it underscored.

Personal Care Insights previously reached out to Beiersdorf and Natracare, who stressed the importance of regulatory pressures for industry changes and promoting biodegradable and organic solutions. 

By Venya Patel