Managing nitrogen use and pollution: Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee report

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

On 6 January 2026, the House of Lords is scheduled to debate the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee report: ‘Nitrogen: Time to reduce, recycle, reuse’ (HL Paper 161).

1. Committee report on managing nitrogen use

The Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee published its report on the use and management of nitrogen on 24 July 2025.^[1] This followed an inquiry on the subject, which was launched in February 2025.

The committee report explained the importance of managing nitrogen use effectively, stating:

Nitrogen is a critical element that is essential for all living organisms and its use in artificial fertilisers has allowed increases in yields to support a growing population. However, too much reactive nitrogen in the system from fossil fuel combustion, mismanagement and overapplication of organic and synthetic fertilisers, leaks and spills from wastewater, and more intensive livestock farming has had harmful consequences and has led to a complex management problem. Nitrogen pollution is a significant driver of biodiversity loss internationally and in the UK. It has wide ranging negative impacts on air, land, and water quality, climate change, and public health but has remained a largely invisible issue. Excess nitrogen is often treated as a waste product, yet it has economic value as a potential resource.^[2]

The committee therefore stated that it was an “essential priority to minimise nitrogen pollution and to capture and re-use nitrogen pollutants, turning them from damaging waste into a valuable resource”.^[3]

The committee explained its inquiry had focused on the opportunities for the economy, environment and public health of more effective nitrogen management. In particular, it said it looked at three key principles: “reductions in inputs, efficient use that minimises losses, and reuse of what is left”.^[4] It also explained that it had focused its report on the agriculture, wastewater, and transport and industry sectors, as these were the main contributors to nitrogen pollution in England.

The report highlighted a number of statutory and non-statutory targets to address nitrogen related pollution, including in the context of air quality, water and biodiversity.^[5] Some of the interim targets attached to these have now been revised by the government in its new environmental improvement plan published in December 2025.^[6] Nitrogen-related targets included:

• deliver 2030 emissions targets to reduce anthropogenic emissions for the following pollutants against a 2005 baseline level: ammonia (NH3) 16% reduction, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 73% reduction
• reduce total nitrogen, total phosphorus and sediment pollution from agriculture into the water environment by at least 40% by 2038, compared to a 2018 baseline, with an interim target of 12% by December 2030
• have 50% of sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) be on track to achieve favourable condition by December 2030

Noting data published by the Office for Environmental Protection, the committee said that the initial targets relating to nitrogen pollution (such as those in the previous 2023 environmental action plan) were not ambitious enough and that most were either not on track or only partially on track.^[7] It claimed successive governments had failed to effectively manage nitrogen pollution and that there had not been a holistic, cross-departmental approach. It said the piecemeal approach to the issue had led to a “largely ineffective regulatory framework, with poor enforcement, lack of clear accompanying guidance, and overlap between regulatory bodies’ remits which have complicated roles and responsibilities”.^[8]

As a result, the committee made recommendations for government focused on three priorities:

• Simplifying the regulatory system and toughening enforcement. The current system is too complex and confusing to be effective. Enforcement is insufficient and there is a lack of advice and support, particularly for farmers, to ensure regulations are understood and followed.
• Implementing a circular approach to nitrogen management. This involves three key principles: reductions in inputs, efficient use that minimises losses, and reuse of what is left. There is an opportunity both to avoid the costs of excess reactive nitrogen and to turn that nitrogen ‘waste’ into a valuable commodity. Technological approaches such as slurry separators, anaerobic digestion, drying manures and creating fertiliser products such as nutrient-dense pellets present an opportunity to generate new markets. The government must provide clear policy direction for the agriculture, wastewater, and industry sectors on innovative approaches for recycling nitrogen and provide adequate support to improve uptake.
• Taking a more strategic approach to nitrogen pollution. The government should quantify the major flows, sources and sinks (a balance sheet) for nitrogen pollution and the economic impacts of this pollution. It should use this as a basis for plans to manage the problem more effectively and in an integrated way, and to turn economic costs into benefits. This needs to bring together the existing targets, strategies and plans relating to nitrogen. This will require working across government departments.^[9]

A full list of the committee’s recommendations can be found on pages 84 to 87 of the committee report. Some more specific recommendations outlined by the committee in its press release included:

• Providing clear policy direction [based on its circular approach recommendation] for the farming and wastewater sectors [for]:
  • 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,
  • o 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.^[10]

2. Government response to the committee’s report on nitrogen use

The government published its response to the committee’s report on 24 September 2025, addressing each of the committee’s conclusions and recommendations in turn.^[11] Although it did not reject any of the committee’s conclusions and recommendations, the response did not fully endorse each of them (for example, some were ‘noted’ and some were ‘partially’ agreed with).

For example, on the three key priorities outlined by the committee, the government response did agree with the need to simplify the regulatory system and toughen enforcement, including offering better advice and support for farmers.^[12] It said its work in this area included introducing new statutory guidance applicable to farmers and land managers, increased funding for Environment Agency inspections, and consideration of recommendations made by the independent water commission (including for a potential water reform bill).^[13]

The government then ‘noted’ the committee’s second suggested priority of implementing a circular approach to nitrogen management. It explained there were a number of considerations for policy in this area:

The number of interrelated outcomes within the nutrients system means any policy that affects part of the system needs to be considered holistically to identify opportunities and manage trade-offs. To give one example:

• A consequence of the target to reduce phosphate (P) from wastewater treatment works is that sewage sludge will be higher in P.
• As around 95% of sludge is spread to land, there is a risk of ‘pollution swapping’ (where pollution reduced in one area causes an increase elsewhere) if sludge or soil run off into water.
• Farmers may have limited information on the specific nutrient concentrations, and possible other contaminants, of sludge they spread on behalf of wastewater treatment works. This can give rise to both environmental risks and regulatory exposure for farmers.

A systems approach could better identify potential risks of unintended outcomes and trade-offs early on when exploring the opportunities that exist across sectors. For example, in transporting, re-using and recycling nutrients most efficiently and productively (eg liquid fuels, energy, anaerobic digestion), we should ensure that their use is targeted to prevent pollution.^[14]

However, the government only ‘partially agreed’ to the committee’s third recommended priority for taking a more strategic approach to nitrogen pollution. In particular, it explained it did not see the value of producing a separate strategy for nitrogen. Instead, it stated:

The government recognises the importance of capture and reuse of nitrogen and in taking a whole-of-economy approach: the circular economy taskforce will consider these tenets of a circular economy as part of the roadmaps set out with the circular economy strategy for England.

An end-to-end view of the nutrient cycle would be encouraged by assigning producer responsibilities, prioritising nutrient recovery over nutrient disposal, and ending the practices of excessive nutrient loading to agricultural land. This would require an integrated systems approach across food production, waste treatment, and agricultural compliance, covering air, land and water environments.^[15]

Further information on how the government responded to each of the committee’s conclusions and recommendations can be found in the full response, on pages 9 to 27.

As part of its response, the government also highlighted its upcoming revised environmental improvement plan as part of its policy efforts to tackle nitrogen pollution. As noted in section 1 of this briefing, the ‘Environmental improvement plan 2025’ was subsequently published on 1 December 2025.

3. Read more

• House of Commons Library, ‘Air quality: Policies, proposals and concerns’, 8 December 2025
• Office for Environmental Protection, ‘Progress in improving the natural environment in England 2023/2024’, January 2025; and ‘Government response’, 20 October 2025
• World Wildlife Fund, ‘Nitrogen: Finding the balance’, January 2022

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