{{selectedAlertBand.alertDescription}}
{{selectedAlertBand.incident.heading}}
{{alert.alertDescription}}
{{index+1}}
/ {{ alertBandDate.length}}
{{selectedAlertBand.alertDescription}}
{{selectedAlertBand.alertDescription}}
{{selectedAlertBand.alertLinkText}} {{selectedAlertBand.alertLinkText}}
For further updates subscribe
The flat landscape we operate in means we must use energy to pump water around the region and our population is set to grow by 720,000 over the next two decades – this additional treatment and distribution of drinking water and sewage will require carbon and energy. So, with our commitment to be net zero by 2030 we must seek innovative ways to reduce the need for carbon intensive, processes and instead opt for low carbon solutions including those which are nature based. We already have an excellent track record as the new assets we build today are already 66% lower carbon than our 2010 baseline.
Some of our key commitments to 2030 include:
- Our capital carbon will be reduced by a further 5%, to 70% against our 2010 baseline. A reduction in the carbon from concrete will be a focus with an aim to achieve a 20% reduction.
- We use 100% renewable electricity with an aim that 25% of our electricity will be delivered from renewable sources generated at our own sites.
- The majority of our small vehicles will be replaced with electric equivalents.
- We gradually move towards lower carbon HGVs, using electric batteries or alternative low carbon fuels.
- Our Circular Economy Strategy innovates across sectors to turn waste streams into further high-value, low-carbon opportunities, including hydrogen production from treated effluent.
Find out more about our ambitions to 2030 and 2050 in our AMP8 Business Plan proposals.
Our impact
Despite making enormous progress in tackling our emissions since we set our first carbon reduction targets in 2010, operational carbon (greenhouse gasses emitted - normalised to carbon, as a result of the day to day operations of our business including energy, process emissions from water recycling process and emissions from our vehicle fleet) remains our biggest negative impact on environmental prosperity.
The total capital carbon (emitted as a consequence of manufacture and installation of assets we construct) has decreased this year as we move towards the completion of our strategic pipeline to increase resilience of our service. Although we continue to improve the percentage reduction in the capital carbon of our assets against our 2010 baseline.
It is important to understand that both operational and capital carbon are the result of delivering significant increases in other environmental benefits through our treatment processes.
The table below summarises the measures included for our impact in this ambition and full details are found in our methodology.
Carbon: Delivering Net Zero
By 2030 we aim to be a net zero carbon business. This is defined as net zero emissions where we have operational control, as set out in our Net zero 2030 routemap. This means we will reduce our carbon emissions through, for example, the consumption of renewable electricity, transitioning away from fossil fuel vehicles and reducing our energy consumption.
Our operational carbon impact in 2024/5 reduced from 2023/24. We achieved our Ofwat related target of a 10% reduction against our 2019/20 baseline and our aim to consume 45% of our electricity from renewable sources. We will continue to drive down carbon emissions, identifying and achieving efficiencies, transitioning to renewable electricity and moving our vehicle fleet away from fossil fuels.
We’ve also committed to reducing our capital carbon emissions – Scope 3 emissions that arise, as a consequence of building and maintaining our assets – by 70%, against a 2010 baseline by 2030. In 2024/25, we met our Ofwat target for capital carbon reduction of 65% (achieving a 66.1% reduction) compared to a 2010 baseline.
We remain on track with the actions outlined in our net zero routemap to power our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2030. Read more in our Climate related financial disclosure and our Annual Integrated Report pages 75-101.
Waste management: Circular Economy
Over the past two years, we have been developing our circular economy strategy. Sewage sludge treatment and recycling is an area of high circular economy maturity, with the biogas and biosolids produced fully recycled, making the overall process circular in nature. We have benchmarked ourselves against industry peers and have worked closely with Business in the Community, using their maturity tool to highlight areas of focus. We are currently at Level 2, classified as Improving in terms of our circular economy maturity, and are using the tool to further improve our overall circular economy performance. Innovation will unlock opportunities to be more circular and improve business resilience. An example is our work on finding new pathways for bioresources recovery, such as a partnership with Firefly Green Fuels to turn biosolids into sustainable aviation fuel, and our Ofwat innovation fund trial for resource recovery through Hydrothermal Oxidation (HTO) with Cranfield University.
Our performance and commitments
Our commitments and current performance around our ambition to enable sustainable economic and housing growth in the UK s fastest-growing region are shown in the table below. Further details can be found on page 33 in our Annual Integrated report and our Annual Peformance Report.
×
![]()