A comparison of cost models
The recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD), 3019/2024/EU, requires the removal of micropollutants from urban wastewater. To cover at least 80% of the costs, it mandates extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes with two industrial sectors, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, identified as main polluters. Using data available mostly from before 2021, the impact assessment (IA) of the UWWTD estimated a costs of treatment of ca. 1,2 billion Euro/year for the EU by 2040 when all treatment facilities would be in place (1,56 billion Euro/year in 2025 prices due to the meanwhile relatively high inflation). On the other hand, the recast UWWTD requires less widespread treatment of micropollutants than assumed in the IA. The Commission, in the Water Resilience Strategy adopted in 2025, committed to conduct an updated study of costs and its potential impacts on concerned sectors.
As a contribution to such study, this report compares the costs in the IA with alternative estimates derived from recently published evidence. It shows that the alternative estimates support higher treatment costs per p.e., with total costs remaining within the margin of uncertainty of the IA.
By 2045, when all the quaternary treatment would be in place, the costs that can be expected from the implementation of quaternary treatment in current prices can be estimated in the range 1,48-1,8 billion Euro/year i.e. between - 5% and +15% compared to the 1,56 billion Euro/year estimation of the IA corrected for inflation.
Such cost adaptation per se would not challenge the conclusions of the IA concerning the aggregated impact of costs on the industry and consumers, all the rest being equal.
PISTOCCHI Alberto;
2025-12-10
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC144745
978-92-68-35092-8 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 40579,
OP KJ-01-25-639-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC144745,
10.2760/6476421 (online),
