Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders on the concerns raised by Greenpeace on the Environment Agency's Sludge Strategy.

The Greenpeace article published on 4 February 2020 was associated with a consultant's report produced as part of an Environment Agency Materials-to-Land project. The Environment Agency takes its responsibility to protect the environment very seriously, which is why it commissioned this report to inform its upcoming sludge strategy and make sure regulations are based on the latest scientific data.

On 17 March 2020 the Environment Agency completed and published its Strategy for safe and sustainable sludge use on gov.uk. Section 9.5 of the strategy lays out aims associated with hazards including chemicals and micro-plastics. An update was then published on 15 July 2020 to reflect adjustments to our delivery timeline due caused by having to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current timeline is to implement the strategy in 2023. The Environment Agency is currently working with the water industry, Defra and other key stakeholders on the preparation for a public consultation to effect the changes laid out in the published strategy.