The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Environment Agency are reforming the regulatory framework for recycling sewage sludge and effluent in agriculture, including new rules for marketing fertilising products and establishing a single water regulator to consolidate functions currently split across Natural England, the Environment Agency, Ofwat, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. The government plans to publish a transition plan for these reforms in 2026, with the aim of ensuring independent scrutiny and auditing while managing farmer compliance complexity.
In response to: Environment Agency strategy for safe and sustainable sludge use
This strategy sets out our purpose, principles and priorities for how we will enable safe and sustainable sludge use on land.
The Government's summary of an EU delegated regulation to allow fertilising products to contain processed manure as a component material.
Government response to the NMEG report on how to improve policy and practice to reduce nutrient pollution from agricultural nutrients.
The Government's summary of a regulation concerning processing requirements for digestate products and inhibiting compounds set out in EU regulation 2019/1009.
How the government is making farm regulations easier to understand and use.