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How do pharmaceuticals get into the environment? Can residues of pharmaceuticals in water and soil harm plants, animals or even human health? What is being done to prevent this, and what can I do? The Federal Environment Agency’s background paper, which is now also available in English, sheds light on these and other questions surrounding the topic of pharmaceuticals in the environment.

Germany's Energiewende is a complex, large-scale project. The tasks and measures by which to achieve it are manifold and diverse, as reflected by the many active players in Germany. The publication "Who is who of the Energiewende in Germany – Contact Partners in Politics, Industry and Society", published by the Foreign Office in German and English, provides an overview.

Biocidal products must be used wisely to avoid harming humans and the environment. UBA has compiled a set of measures how to achieve that goal.

Fertile soils are essential for life. Their preservation is set to become one of the United Nations’ global sustainability goals, under the heading “land degradation neutral world”. A legal study commissioned by UBA looked into how this goal could be implemented at international level.

One of the principles of environmental protection is that wastes must be recycled. However, it is counterproductive to reintroduce a recycled product which contains pollutants. An UBA study examines how this can be prevented for five persistent organic pollutants (POP).

The planned free trade agreement known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), if improperly designed, could result in a softening of EU environmental standards.

For a long time the chemical hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, was the most economically significant flame retardant used in polystyrene foam for insulation materials. Our background paper, also available in English, provides answers to the most important questions concerning the phase-out.

About a quarter of the volume of wastewater entering sewage plants for treatment would not have to be treated. This is extraneous water that infiltrates decrepit sewers and blends with “genuine” wastewater. In a project, a group of experts explored how this affects water quality and how sewer rehabilitation can remedy the problem.

A delegation of directors from Environmental Protection Agencies across Europe (EPA Network) met with the First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans to discuss a paper with recommendations compiled by the group.

The waste water charge could be a viable way to help finance the upgrading of large waste water treatment plants to include a 'fourth treatment stage". A new study has determined that these facilities can reduce micropollutants – pharmaceuticals, for example – which are present in waterbodies.

The European Environment Agency has released its report ‘The European environment – state and outlook 2015'. According to the document, Europeans enjoy cleaner air and water today, less waste is sent to landfill and more resources are recycled.