Soil contamination is a well-known yet not well-understood problem. There has been a longstanding and unacceptable failure to remediate historical soil contamination that acts as a barrier to nature recovery. As for contamination through agricultural inputs, the Government should also improve controls and protocols—both for their production and application—to give the sector more confidence to use these more freely. It is particularly disappointing that regulatory updates for sewage sludge ha...

Soil contamination is a well-known yet not well-understood problem. There has been a longstanding and unacceptable failure to remediate historical soil contamination that acts as a barrier to nature recovery. As for contamination through agricultural inputs, the Government should also improve controls and protocols—both for their production and application—to give the sector more confidence to use these more freely. It is particularly disappointing that regulatory updates for sewage sludge have not yet happened. However, the most effective measure to tackle soil contamination is to prevent it in the first place. Type: recommendation | Number: 25 | Paragraph: 92 | Response status: accepted Government response: The Environment Agency’s Materials to Land Sector Group enables safe and sustainable land spreading of manures and waste derived soil conditioners. The Group engages nationally with Trade Bodies, locally with operators, and works with producers (Biowaste Treatment Sector) and th