'Things need to change': From company fines to wet wipe bans, can Defra's Plan for Water turn Britain's pollution crisis around?

Cecilia Keating
clock • 8 min read
Sewage discharges have threatened the ecology of Lake Windermere in Cumbria  | Credit: iStock
Image:

Sewage discharges have threatened the ecology of Lake Windermere in Cumbria | Credit: iStock

Proposals to ban wet wipes, dole out 'unlimited fines' for law-breaking water companies, and fast-track investment in key infrastructure received mixed response from green groups

The government has today published a new water strategy, reiterating its plans to introduce stronger regulation and tougher enforcement on water companies that dump sewage in English and Welsh waterways....

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Biodiversity

Step Up for Nature: SBTN announces first cohort of companies to join new nature initiative

Step Up for Nature: SBTN announces first cohort of companies to join new nature initiative

Growing list of companies share their timelines and plans for delivering on science-based nature targets

clock 04 December 2025 • 2 min read
Don't blame the bats for HS2's blunders

Don't blame the bats for HS2's blunders

When nature considerations are designed in from the start, it saves developers time, money and reputations, writes Sally Hayns, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)

Sally Hayns, CIEEM
clock 02 December 2025 • 4 min read
From 'forever chemicals' to landscape recovery: The new Environmental Improvement Plan at a glance

From 'forever chemicals' to landscape recovery: The new Environmental Improvement Plan at a glance

BusinessGreen's all-you-need-to-know guide to the government's wide-ranging new Environmental Improvement Plan

Stuart Stone
clock 01 December 2025 • 17 min read