Sewage sludge containing human waste from the Netherlands has been passed for import to the UK, to be used on farmland as fertiliser, despite concerns over the safety of its use. Spreading the sludge on farmland is banned in the Netherlands, where incineration is preferred, but allowed in the UK. Dutch water authorities are eyeing the UK as a possible destination for their sewage, after problems at an Amsterdam incineration company left them lacking disposal options.
It is legal in the UK to use sewage sludge on farmland but it must be first treated and then applied under strict regulations. However, the Environment Agency has raised concerns that the regulations are not always followed. “The government is doing very little to understand what harm sludge could be doing to humans – they don’t have the data,” he said. “If we can ensure that you don’t have harmful contaminants, then [using sewage] is a good thing. But at the moment really we don’t know whether some of the things in there are safe or not.” A further concern is that using sewage as fertiliser could foster the growth of superbugs, which are resistant to antibiotics. Cóilín Nunan, a scientific adviser at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: “Human sewage can be an environmental source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and of antibiotic residues. Wastewater treatment plants can reduce but not eliminate all the antibiotics and resistant bacteria.
John Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace UK, said the government’s oversight was not working, and pointed to cases in recent years where the rules had been violated, and concerns raised in the Environment Agency’s 2017 report over enforcement. “Add waste from the Netherlands into the mix and the risk of further contamination is only going to skyrocket. The Environment Agency really needs to get its own house in order before we allow the UK to become a dumping ground for other countries’ polluted sewage.”
Source: Guardian
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