Government faces legal action over sewage sludge on farmland

An environmental campaign group is taking legal action against the government, accusing it of axing its pledge to regulate microplastics and chemicals in sewage sludge spread over farmland.

Fighting Dirty, which comprises campaigners George Monbiot, Georgia Elliott-Smith and Steve Hynd, argues that the government reneged on its commitment to bring the regulation of sewage sludge into the Environmental Permitting Regime (EPR) by 2023.

This would require treated sewage sludge, which is sold to farmers by water companies, to be tested for microplastics and chemicals before being applied to agricultural land as fertiliser.