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Air quality

In Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan, “clean air” is one of the 10 goals to achieve the ambition to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. In 2019, Defra published a Clean Air Strategy to tackle air pollution, setting out existing policies and a programme of new actions to reduce emissions of five of the most damaging air pollutants: fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ammonia (NH3), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxides (SO2) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs).

To manage our different relationships with the targeted air pollutants effectively, we established a clean air working group in 2019 to develop a consistent understanding and management of our approach. The first step was to understand what they are and the interaction and risk to our operations. The risk for each potential emission source was reviewed by adopting a qualitative assessment of risk severity and likelihood. The following were identified:

  • Wildfires; NH3 emissions from biosolids storage and application to land; energy use (bulk fossil fuel, diesel generators and pumps, electricity purchased); fleet vehicles (exhaust); non-road mobile machinery used on capital projects; and staff exposure to roadside emissions.

  • Forestry operations and end use of forestry products; agriculture on tenanted land; sludge transportation; anaerobic digestion plants; CHP engines; natural gas use; emission considerations in supply chain decisions; fleet vehicles (non-exhaust); diesel/petrol powered grounds maintenance equipment; and wastewater handling.

  • Non-agricultural activities on tenanted land; waste disposal; product choice in property services; chemical usage in grounds maintenance activities; septic sewers; trade effluent inputs; and staff exposure to chemicals.

Actions and control measures have been identified for emission sources categorised as medium or high risk. Some risks will be re-assessed as more information becomes available. We have developed a monitoring programme to obtain actual emissions for medium/high risk sources where the evidence isn’t currently robust enough to quantify the risk and inform the baseline. Emission monitoring is underway at five sites in 2021.

This year we have signed up to becoming a Business for Clean Air to signal our commitment to addressing air pollution. We have also taken the lead in the water industry by successfully progressing an industry wide piece of research via UKWIR (UK Water Industry Research). This project aims to present a clear picture of the sources and associated risk of air pollutant emissions across wastewater operations and identify future research projects into effective controls to minimise the risk. It also aims to establish an air pollution accounting workbook, similar to the carbon accounting workbook,  to provide water companies with a consistent and transparent approach for accounting air pollutant emissions. 

Our Annual Performance Report describes the progress we are making in the delivery of our better air quality performance commitment.