Thousands of tonnes of toxic landfill liquid added to sewage and spread on English farms
Watershed evealed that vast quantities of toxic liquid from landfills are being mixed into sewage and spread on English farmland. The liquid, known as leachate, is generated when rain filters through waste dumps, creating a contaminated cocktail containing PFAS “forever chemicals,” dioxins, flame retardants, solvents, endocrine disruptors and microplastics. Around 3.5 million tonnes of leachate are produced each year in England, with more than 750,000 tonnes trucked into sewage treatment works.
Most sewage works are not designed to filter out these persistent pollutants. Instead, the leachate is given basic biological treatment alongside sewage before being released into rivers or bound up in sludge. This sludge—rebranded as fertiliser—is then spread on farmland across the country, exposing soils, crops and food chains to harmful substances that are poorly regulated or not regulated at all.
Sludge regulation still relies largely on 1989 rules focused on heavy metals. Campaigners, scientists and some insiders warn that the system fails to address modern chemical threats, while official monitoring remains patchy. The revelations highlight how landfill and wastewater management practices are combining to recycle industrial and household toxins back into the environment, raising urgent questions over food safety, regulation and public health. To read in full, click on the link below.
Four stories make up the investigation so far:
Thousands of tonnes of toxic landfill liquid added to sewage and spread on English farms‘
A Trojan horse’: how toxic sewage sludge became a threat to the future of British farming
Millions of tonnes of toxic sewage sludge spread on UK farmland every year
Environment Agency insider alleges ‘cover-up’ over sewage sludge on farmland
