EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced in partnership with Laura Bolado of Andes Legal Consulting Ltd
Practice notes

EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Produced in partnership with Laura Bolado of Andes Legal Consulting Ltd

Practice notes
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Purpose

Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment (the UWTD) entered into force on 29 May 1991. It established rules for the collection, monitoring, treatment and discharge of urban wastewater and the monitoring, treatment and discharge of wastewater from certain industrial sectors listed in its Annex III (eg milk processing, meat and fish processing, manufacturing of fruit and vegetable products, manufacturing and bottling of soft drinks, etc).

The purpose of the UWTD is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of these wastewater discharges.

European Green Deal—recast of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive

The implementation of the UWTD was evaluated in 2019. The evaluation concluded that the UWTD has been successful in increasing wastewater collection and treatment throughout the EU, but that an overhaul was needed to address existing and emerging pollution (such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics), adapt to climate change, align the legislation with the circular economy through improved resource recovery, and respond to technological developments.

On 26 October 2022, the Commission adopted a proposal for a recast of the UWTD.

Laura Bolado
Laura Bolado

EU Law Specialist

Laura worked in EU law for over two decades making it one her main area of expertise. In 2002 she worked for the European Commission (Brussels) and relocated to London in 2003 to work for the European Medicines Agency. There she gained first-hand experience on the functioning of the EU which she later applied in legal roles at pharmaceutical companies and law firms before turning to a more generalist approach to EU law at LexisNexis. At LexisNexis she helped develop and maintain EU Tracker (writing on the implementation of EU Directives in different EU jurisdictions, etc.) and assisted various departments with EU law matters in her EU Law Specialist capacity. Laura also delivered EU law training to several interns and legal professionals. Laura left LexisNexis in late 2013 to explore her options in different environments. In 2014 Laura lectured EU law at universities in Argentina, spoke at international conferences and continued with her contributions to national legal publications (Rubinzal and Abeledo Perrot/Thomson Reuters) in EU and Integration law. Laura became an author for PSL Public Law in October 2014. After returning to London in 2015 she run her own business which included regular contributions to PSL Environment, Energy and Public Law. From 2017 until 2020 Laura authored the Europe chapter of LexisNexis Civil Court Practice (Green Book). From 2019 until 2024 Laura contributed to Reg-Track writing on financial services, data protection, money laundering, environmental and social governance, etc. in several jurisdictions worldwide. As of 2025 Laura is part of Cube Global where she continues to write about various topics in a remote-contractual basis (as she has now relocated to Spain).

Education

Laura is a dual-qualified lawyer (Argentina and Spain) with two LLMs in European Law and in Information Technology Law awarded by the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain.

Laura is a data protection professional certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP CIPP/E) also holds an International Compliance Association certificate in Anti-Money Laundering. 

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Jurisdiction(s):
European Union
Key definition:
Entry into force definition
What does Entry into force mean?

Date on which an EU act takes effect which is the date specified in it or, in the absence of such date, the twentieth day following that of its official publication or notification, as the case may be.

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