New publications this month:
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA)
Digital waste tracking
The mandatory digital waste tracking initiative was announced as part of the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy for England. This was due to be introduced in April 2025, using powers under the Environment Act 2021.
However, the introduction of digital waste tracking may now be delayed. In October 2024, Defra announced an internal regulatory review. The outcomes of this review and the Circular Economy Taskforce are expected to affect the introduction of digital waste tracking. It is understood that Defra is due to make an announcement on the system soon.
Deposit Return Scheme: drinks producer and retailer responsibilities
Guidance is provided on actions that must be taken to comply with the forthcoming deposit return scheme for drinks containers in England and Northern Ireland. The deposit return scheme is due to operate from 1 October 2027.
Single-use vapes ban
Information is provided concerning the ban on supplying and selling single-use vapes. This will apply across the UK from 1 June 2025.
Supporting minimising environmental impacts from unexploded ordnance clearance
Information is provided on mitigating and monitoring environmental impacts from marine unexploded ordnance clearance. This activity requires a marine licence. A relevant joint position statement with other regulators has been published.
Marine strategy part three: 2025 UK programme of measures
This third part of the strategy states measures to be taken to contribute toward achieving good environmental status in UK Seas.
Reducing marine noise
Actions being taken by the UK Government to reduce noise impacts in the marine environment are set out within this document.
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
New online service for standard rule environmental permit applications in England
A new online service for standard rule permit applications has been opened for trials in England. This currently covers the following activities:
Air emissions risk assessment for your environmental permit
Guidance on calculating process contributions to air from an installation have been updated. This now provides details of when and how short-term environmental assessment levels for nitrogen monoxide should be assessed for data centres.
Landfill and deposit for recovery: aftercare and permit surrender
Further information is now provided on landfill permit surrender requirements.
UK ETS: Register your installation as an ultra-small emitter
Templates and guidance have been published concerning how existing ultra-small emitters should apply for ultra-small emitter status for the 2026 to 2030 allocation period. These applications must be made between 1 April and 30 June 2025.
UK Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation: how to comply
Updated information is provided on instances where simplified reporting procedures apply. This includes instances where the Eurocontrol Small Emitters Tool (SET) can be used to calculate aviation emissions.
New national flood and coastal erosion risk information
New national flood risk assessment (NaFRA) and new national coastal erosion risk map (NCERM) data has been published.
Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs)
The following new and updated RPSs were published during January 2025:
DEPARTMENT FOR ENERGY SECURITY AND NET ZERO
Sewer heat recovery: exclusion zone guidance methodology
Guidance is provided to water companies and heat network developers on the recovery and use of waste heat from sewers.
MINISTRY OF HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Building Regulations Approved Document B: Fire Safety, incorporating amendments
Versions of both volumes Approved Document B collated with 2025, 2026 and 2029 amendments have been published:
MARINE MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION
Updated marine licensing guidance
Amendments have been made to the text of the following guidance documents:
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
Masterplan Consent Areas: guidance
The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced Masterplan Consent Areas, which deliver consent for schemes in designated areas. This document provides guidance on these areas.
Marine licensing and consenting: offshore renewable energy projects
Guidance is provided on marine licensing and consenting requirements for offshore renewable energy projects.
WELSH GOVERNMENT
Natural Flood Management: guidance to undertake natural flood management works
Guidance is provided for local authorities on funding works under the Natural Flood Management Grant.
NORTHERN IRELAND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (NIEA)
NIEA Guidance Note for the completion of an application for notifiable waste
Guidance is provided on applications for notifiable transfrontier waste shipments.
West Yorkshire company fined for river pollution
A packing company based in Huddersfield has been fined after pleading guilty to illegally discharging bleach.
In September 2021, bleach (sodium hypochlorite) escaped after a wooden pallet collapsed. The spilt bleach was flushed into surface water drains, discharging into the River Holme where it meets the River Colne in Huddersfield.
The court heard the liquid was stored in containers, with those containing liquids are stored inside the warehouse and empty containers outside. The company explained there had been a spillage of bleach inside the warehouse, which happened when a wooden pallet the containers were stacked on gave way, resulting in some of them toppling and spilling. The contents went down a manhole cover in the warehouse.
The incident was not reported to the Environment Agency because the company thought the manhole led to the foul sewer. An Environment Agency officer used green dye to trace the discharge from the manhole, confirming it was a surface water drain that led to the river.
Over 800 dead fish were counted three kilometres downstream in the River Colne, as well as dead aquatic invertebrates.
While the court agreed the incident was negligent, it accepted there were mitigating circumstances including that the company co-operated fully with the investigation, carried out a clean-up and has since taken steps around storage and operation to prevent it happening again in the future. The court accepted the offence was not commercially motivated.
Breach
Liquipak Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016:
Penalty
Liquipak Ltd was fined of £2,666.67 after being given credit for an early guilty plea in addition to £6,307 in costs and a victim’s surcharge.
Man from South Wales guilty of waste offences
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has prosecuted a man for storing quantities of waste at a site in Caerleon without an environmental permit.
NRW officers first visited the site in April 2023, after receiving reports of illegal waste activity. Upon arrival they found quantities of mixed waste, including soil, stones, bricks and construction/demolition waste, as well as wood, plastic, and tyres. No waste exemptions or environmental permits were in place authorising any kind of waste activity at the site.
The man was served with a notice requiring the waste to be removed. He was also informed by NRW that keeping or disposing of waste on land without an environmental permit or relevant exemption was unlawful. These are offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
The man was told that no further waste was to be deposited at the location. However, during a follow up visit in November 2023, NRW officers found that the man had failed to fully comply with the notice and remove the waste.
The man was ordered to pay a fine of £1,173. He was also ordered to pay costs of £4,140 and a victim surcharge of £469.
The man is currently a serving prisoner and the penalty will be payable upon his release.
Farmer fined for abstracting water during a drought
A Norfolk farmer with a history of environmental offending has been fined for taking and using more water than authorised, including during a summer drought.
The man held two water abstraction licences that allowed him to abstract water from the channel next to his farm. Under his winter licence, he was permitted to abstract a limited amount of water to fill a lake. Under his summer licence, he was permitted to abstract a much smaller amount and only for the purpose of crop spraying. The licences required the man to keep abstraction records and maintain abstraction meters.
Over four years, the man took three times the amount of water he was licenced to take, from a small channel next to his farm. Abstractions continued during the record-breaking hot summer of 2022, when East Anglia was officially in drought and many local water courses were dry. The man’s actions impacted water supplies for the local community.
Breaches
The man pleaded guilty of over-abstraction under both licences between 2018 and 2022. Four charges were made, concerning Section 24(1), Section 24(4) and Section 24(4)(b) of the Water Resources Act 1991:
The man received a £2,000 fine, a fine of £100 for breaching his suspended sentence, £2,000 in prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £200.
