Last week, Renew Europe welcomed the approval in the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the update of the Urban Wastewater Directive.  

Reducing our footprint on natural resources and ecosystems while taking care of public health is part of Renew Europe’s core business. As water is a vital public good that belongs to everyone, Europe must act very responsibly in how we use and reuse precious water resources. 

The new Urban Wastewater Directive, which is a key initiative under the EU zero pollution plan for air, water and soil, aims to deliver more ambitious goals for clean water with stricter and expanded targets on the elimination of pollutants and nutrients and on additional treatments for the broadest spectrum of micro-pollutants. 

The revision of the directive was led by Nils Torvalds MEP (SFP, FI), and provides for a steady extension of urban wastewater collecting systems and the introduction of new monitoring requirements, putting the EU on track to achieve clean and healthy water for all. 

“Clean seas, lakes and rivers - with this update we are meeting our current and future challenges and making sure everyone in Europe has access to clean water. With climate change increasingly impacting us all, we need to step up our work - the revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is a good start!” said rapporteur Torvalds.

We welcome today’s approval in @EP_Environment of the update of the Urban Wastewater Directive.

Reducing our footprint on natural resources & ecosystems while taking care of our public health is part of our core business #RenewPlanetA

📰@NilsTorvalds 👇https://t.co/xZvCEJgkAr

— Renew Europe (@RenewEurope) September 20, 2023