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Treatment to clean up our sewage is essential to protect human health and the environment.
Urban waste water treatment (UWWT) has been key to improving the quality of Europe’s waters in recent decades, shown in the significant improvement of bathing water quality. However, treatment methods can be energy- and water- intensive.
Many chemicals from our homes and workplaces, such as plasticisers and personal care products, end up in waste water. These then need removing, as waste water treatment remains the last chance to protect our waters from chemical pollution.
Greenhouse gases are emitted at many stages of UWWT, from those embedded in infrastructure like sewers to sludge management.

Previous comments

Dries Huygens (invited by Caroline Whalley) 29 Oct 2021 11:19:22

you may want to add an example of sludge management that has a GHG impact: "... to sludge management like landfills."
Sara Johansson (invited by Caroline Whalley) 08 Nov 2021 16:37:30

I understand that the scope of the report is resource recovery from 'black' and 'grey' water, but UWWTPs are also receiving industrial wastewater and urban run-off that bring a different pollutant load
Bertrand Vallet (invited by Caroline Whalley) 08 Nov 2021 17:20:19

The expressions “waste water treatment” and “sewage treatment” are mixed throughout the report. Better to be consistent and only use one of the expressions.
Bertrand Vallet (invited by Caroline Whalley) 08 Nov 2021 17:22:47

Second bullet: "treatment methods can be energy- and ressource- intensive": the process itself does not require a lot of water.
Bertrand Vallet (invited by Caroline Whalley) 08 Nov 2021 17:24:16
Proposed addition:
- Achieving a circular economy in sewage treatment is a long term project and is dependent on many contributors. From realising the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to prevent micropollutants reaching sewage, to enabling legislation at all levels and to establishing viable markets for recycled products.
- Harmful substances risking to reach the waste water should be banned from use. It is essential for both the European waters - and to be able to use the vast resources from waste waters in a circular economy. Control at source as envisaged in the Treaty 191.2 has to be mirrored and enforced through chemical legislations as REACH, biocides, hygienic and cosmetics pharmaceutical and pesticides legislations – and in policies to connect industries to WWTPs. As a last resort, when measures at source have failed, some of the harmful substances can be removed in the waste water treatment plants, as it remains the last chance to protect our waters from chemical pollution.
- Appropriate financing schemes, like Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for pharmaceutical and personal care products, should apply to fund upgrades and operations of treatment plants to remove micropollutants;
Bertrand Vallet (invited by Caroline Whalley) 08 Nov 2021 17:25:16

Move the last bullet point up-front and add it to the 3rd bullet point as follows: "Therefore, a key component for longer term circularity of sewage treatment is to ensure that harmful chemicals no longer reach sewage. This requires implementation of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability under the European Green Deal."
Bertrand Vallet (invited by Caroline Whalley) 08 Nov 2021 17:26:56
Modify the bullet on GHG as follows: "
- Greenhouse gases are emitted at many stages of UWWT, from those embedded in infrastructure like sewers to waste water and sludge treatment management.

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