EU Advocate General Backs Pharma Wastewater Challenge — SkimNews
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- EU Advocate General recommended annulling part of a directive that required pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturers to finance at least 80% of urban wastewater treatment costs.
- The revised directive, effective early last year, was designed to protect human health and the environment from harmful discharges into rivers, lakes, groundwater, and coasts across Europe.
- A core provision — a 'quaternary treatment stage' — specifically targets micropollutants, which the directive attributes mostly to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
- Member states must ensure companies contribute to micropollutant treatment programs by December 2028 under the disputed provision.
- The broader initiative was projected to save approximately $7.5 billion annually by 2040 through cleaner waterways and reduced environmental damage.
Why it matters: If the Advocate General's recommendation is followed by the full court, pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies would avoid the mandated 80% cost-sharing for advanced wastewater treatment, and the EU's projected $7.5 billion in annual savings by 2040 from cleaner waterways would be jeopardized unless alternative financing is found.
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