Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Acknowledged
We recommend that the water industry work urgently with the Environment Agency and the farming...
Recommendation
We recommend that the water industry work urgently with the Environment Agency and the farming sector to assess and mitigate the clear risk of microplastic pollution from this practice, and to develop a comprehensive plan for the separation of microplastics from biosolids at wastewater treatment works. (Paragraph 129) Sewage pollution
Government response summary AI-generated
Ofwat wants to see serious pollution incidents reduced to zero by 2030 and the Government’s revised Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat includes an expectation for Ofwat to ‘challenge water companies to demonstrate how they will achieve zero serious pollution incidents by 2030’.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The Government agrees the risks associated with microplastics need to be assessed and effectively mitigated. As noted in response to recommendation 16, alongside other areas of work, the UK water industry funded Chemicals Investigation Programme is improving our understanding of the hazards of microplastics in wastewater. This will include research into the pathways of microplastics through wastewater and methods to improve wastewater management and the use of resulting sludge by-product. Investigations into the risk of microplastics will continue through the next water company investment cycle. To make progress in the short term, the water industry, with support of the Environment Agency, are making changes. For example, six water companies have installed containment measures to prevent the loss of bio-beads from wastewater treatment.
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