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The Environment and Climate Change Committee has published its report, ‘Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse’, which calls for the UK to be more ambitious and strategic in its plans to manage nitrogen.

• Report: Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse (HTML)
• Report: Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse (PDF)
• Inquiry: Nitrogen
• Environment and Climate Change Committee

Background

Nitrogen is an essential chemical element for all living things but when it combines with other elements, it can form dangerous and deadly pollutants that are damaging to human health and the environment. Agriculture, wastewater, transport and industry are the main contributors to nitrogen pollution in England and therefore are the focus of the Committee’s report on nitrogen, titled ‘Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse’.

The lack of a holistic, cross-departmental approach to nitrogen management means there are missed opportunities to deliver synergies with other government priorities, including climate mitigation efforts, flood management, and nature recovery. Effective nitrogen management also aligns with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' focus on the circular economy. There are a range of existing and emerging opportunities to reduce, recycle and reuse nitrogen from residue streams like solid manure, slurry and wastewater, which should be maximised. 

Key recommendations

The Environment and Climate Change Committee is calling on the Government to:

• Produce a nitrogen strategy to bring together the work of various Government departments and ensure improved coordination. This should include quantifying the major flows, sources and sinks (a balance sheet) for nitrogen pollution.
• Simplify the regulatory system and toughen enforcement, by clarifying roles and responsibilities of those involved in nutrient management for wastewater and making clear what constitutes advice and what is a requirement within farming regulations.
• Implement a circular approach to nitrogen management, providing clear policy direction for the farming and wastewater sectors. This involves three key principles:
  • reducing inputs, such as nitrogen fertilisers and nitrate levels in wastewater discharges;
  • maximising efficient use of nitrogen, for example by testing soils and increasing awareness of best practice; and,
  • reusing a greater proportion of nitrogen by supporting the expansion of nutrient recovery technologies in the wastewater and agricultural sectors.
• For agriculture, prioritise low-hanging fruit measures that can deliver reductions in nitrogen emissions, such as covering slurry stores and using low-emission spreading techniques by 2027.
• For wastewater, promote collaboration between the wastewater and agriculture sectors to implement upstream catchment-based and nature-based approaches as well as opportunities for innovative waste management solutions that reuse nitrogen.
• For transport and industry, ensure the revised Clean Air Strategy establishes a credible, accountable and funded plan to achieve air quality targets, supported by improved coordination with local authorities and more comprehensive monitoring.

Chair's comments

Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said:  

“Nitrogen is an essential chemical element for all living things. It constitutes 80 percent of the air we breathe.

However, when nitrogen combines with other elements it can form dangerous and deadly pollutants that affect air quality, contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths per year and damages and kills aquatic life, precious habitats, plants and wildlife. The associated economic, social and environmental costs are immense.

It is an essential priority to quantify the major flows, sources, and sinks of nitrogen and minimise nitrogen pollution by capturing and re-using pollutants, turning them from damaging waste into a valuable resource.

We are therefore calling on the government to take a more strategic, holistic and innovative approach to nitrogen management, recognising the importance of tougher regulation and the opportunity to deliver improved outcomes for public health, the climate, nature, wildlife, and farmers.

Our report also identifies low-hanging measures to reduce deadly nitrogen pollution which we urge the Government to act on immediately.”