Edie | Almost two-thirds of UK-based SMEs do not understand how to categorise and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions into Scopes 1, 2, and 3, new polling has revealed.

A survey of more than 1,000 senior decision-makers at SMEs, garnering their approach to environmental strategies, disclosures, and investment plans. The primary focus of the research was decarbonisation.

Researchers concluded that, despite a shared, “genuine ambition” to decarbonise and a widespread recognition of the financial benefits of action, most SMEs continue to face resource and capital constraints as well as knowledge gaps.

Only 13% of the businesses surveyed have made public commitments to net-zero by 2050 or sooner, the UK’s legally binding long-term climate target, and backed these pledges up with formal measures.

This proportion remains unchanged year-on-year. However, it tripled between 2023 and 2024.

Extrapolating the 2025 findings across the whole UK economy, 13% is equivalent to around 715,000 SMEs.

In assessing the credibility of “green” or “net-zero” targets, the researchers looked at whether SMEs calculate and disclose emissions in line with the GHG Protocol’s guidance.

Concerningly, the majority (58%) of the business leaders surveyed claim they have never heard of the definitions of Scope 1 (operational), Scope 2 (power-related), and Scope 3 (indirect) emissions.

These definitions form the basic framework of the GHG Protocol, which, in turn, is foundational to the forthcoming UK and EU sustainability reporting standards.

2026 is set to be a landmark year for changes to sustainability reporting standards across Europe.

The UK Government is consulting on the design of its Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) until 17 September 2025, with a view to publishing finalised standards in 2026. It will align with the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) first two standards, published in June 2023. This should ease reporting burdens for businesses operating and trading internationally.

The UK SRS will layer over existing climate risk reporting requirements for large UK businesses, introduced in 2022.

UK businesses with operations and/or sales in Europe are also preparing for the rollout of the EU’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

Policymakers have delayed the introduction of the Directives by one year. They have also reduced the scope of both CSRD and CSDDD in a bid to ease the burden on SMEs. While SMEs are not directly impacted, they will likely receive additional disclosure requests from their large clients and customers.

Environment Agency | A Telford man has been ordered to pay £1,000 for failing to clear an illegal waste site following a prosecution by the Environment Agency.

At Telford Magistrates Court, Brian Woods, 70, of Limekiln Bank, St Georges, Telford, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a court order to clear waste from a site on Granville Road, Donnington Wood.

He had previously admitted to running a waste operation without a permit, contrary to Environmental Permitting Regulations (the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016).

For that offence, he received a 12-month community order to do 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £1,470 in costs and £114 victim’s surcharge.

The case started in August 2019 when Woods admitted to storing waste on the site between December 2016 and April 2017 without an environmental permit.

The case was adjourned on condition that Woods removed all the waste from the site by 26 July 2020. He was also ordered not to bring any additional waste onto the site.

Between July 2020 and June 2024, Environment Agency officers made several checks on the site to find that the waste had not been removed.

Woods on a number of occasions did not attend scheduled meetings. He cited ill health or medical appointments as the reason.

The defendant said in mitigation that following the collapse of his business he was not in a financial position to clear the site of waste.

It was said some 75% of the waste had now been removed.

NESO | A report by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has found that the March 2025 fire at Heathrow Airport’s North Hyde electrical substation was caused by preventable faults and long-standing maintenance failures.

The incident, which resulted in more than 1,300 flight cancellations and power cuts to thousands of homes, has prompted Ofgem to launch a formal investigation into National Grid’s compliance with its safety obligations.

According to NESO, warnings about moisture in the high-voltage equipment were first raised in 2018, but necessary repairs were not carried out. The report also found that the site’s fire suppression system had been inoperative since 2022.

Energy Secretary Rachel Reeves said: “This was a serious failure in critical national infrastructure. It’s unacceptable that warnings were ignored and that a preventable incident caused such disruption to passengers, businesses, and residents.”

Ofgem confirmed it would be examining whether National Grid had breached its licence conditions, which could lead to enforcement action and fines.

The Heathrow incident has intensified calls for stricter oversight of the UK’s electricity network, with critics arguing that cost-cutting and slow investment in ageing infrastructure are putting public safety at risk.

Richard Black, senior associate at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, commented: “This was an avoidable incident with severe consequences. It underlines the need for consistent investment in maintenance and robust safety systems.”

Environment Agency | Oliver “Luke” Kirkbride has pleaded guilty to multiple offences relating to the illegal operation of waste sites on the Lune Industrial Estate in Lancaster.

Kirkbride appeared at Preston Crown Court and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours unpaid work. He was also banned from being a company director for five years.

An investigation by the Environment Agency revealed that thousands of tonnes of combustible waste was stored in breach of permit conditions, with operations continuing even after a suspension notice was issued.

The abandoned waste led to a major fire in December 2023, which caused significant disruption to neighbouring businesses and left firefighting and clean-up costs of over £2 million.

Large quantities of combustible waste were stored far in excess of the 500-tonne, seven-day limit set in the site’s environmental permit.

In February 2022, the Environment Agency suspended the site’s permit because of the significant fire risk, but waste imports continued until April 2022, and then under a second company until October 2022.

The site’s permit was revoked by the Environment Agency in November 2022.

Between September 2021 and October 2022, Kirkbride, as a company director, was found to have deliberately breached environmental permit limits, operated unpermitted waste sites, repeatedly failed to comply with enforcement notices and deposited waste without the necessary authorisations.

Further offences involve waste storage breaches at Unit C4 and the illegal use of Unit C3, which had no permit in place.

BBC News | A former waste site director has been sentenced after being found guilty of multiple offences relating to illegal practices that led to a major fire in Lancaster.

The blaze at Supa Skips in December 2023, caused by abandoned waste, resulted in clean-up costs exceeding £2 million, the Environment Agency (EA) confirmed.

Thousands of tonnes of combustible waste were stored illegally, far exceeding the 500-tonne, seven-day limit allowed under the site’s environmental permit, Preston Crown Court heard. Despite a suspension notice, operations at the Lune Industrial Estate site continued.

Oliver Kirkbride, 38, of Whitehaven, Cumbria, received a 16-month suspended sentence and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

The EA said the site’s permit was suspended in February 2022 due to fire risks. However, waste continued to be imported until April 2022, and under a second company until October 2022. The permit was fully revoked in November 2022.

Between September 2021 and October 2022, Kirkbride was found to have deliberately breached permit limits, operated unlicensed waste sites, failed to comply with enforcement notices, and deposited waste without proper authorisations. Additional offences included storing waste unlawfully and using an unpermitted unit.

Following sentencing, an EA spokesperson said Kirkbride “repeatedly and deliberately ignored” enforcement action. His actions led to a major fire that “ultimately caused weeks of harm and disruption to local residents and businesses,” the spokesperson added.

Security Industry Authority | A man, Martin McAuley, has been convicted of fraud in his absence after working using a cloned SIA licence and ordered to pay fines and levies equalling £515.

Mr. McAuley was convicted of fraud by false representation and possession of an article used in fraud in Coleraine Magistrates’ Court. He was convicted in his absence on the information available to the court.

This came after he first failed to attend a court hearing for the same offences on 4 July 2025 and the case was adjourned. At this point the court warned that should Mr. McAuley fail to attend on this date, the matter would be dealt with in his absence.

The court fined him £250 for each offence, as well as ordering him to pay an offender levy of £15, totalling £515. Mr. McCauley now has 20 weeks to pay off the full amount of £515.

This prosecution came after Mr. McAuley was found working as a door supervisor and in possession of a cloned SIA licence at The Railway Arms, Coleraine, by an SIA investigations officer on 5 May 2023.

Environment Agency | A transport company will pay a total of £167,587.13 for delivering controlled waste to an illegal site at Fen Lane, Long Bennington, Lincolnshire.

The sentence imposed on Fletcher Plant Limited of Clement Street, Sheffield, is the latest result from a major investigation by the Environment Agency.

At Nottingham Crown Court, the company was fined £80,000, ordered to pay costs of £50,000 and a confiscation order of £37,587.13 for its breach of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016.

The company had previously been found guilty in June 2024 after a trial of failing to comply with duty of care regulations for controlled waste between 1 October 2019 and 1 May 2020.

Named ‘Operation Lord’, the investigation saw Environment Agency officers spend months building evidence of the illegal waste site.

The findings led to 12 people and one company, Fletcher Plant, being charged, of which 10 pleaded guilty.

Following an eight-week trial, the remaining three defendants were found guilty.

So far, 11 people have been sentenced to a total of 14 years’ imprisonment for their involvement in this illegal operation.

The court was told that intelligence gathered, revealed lorry-loads of shredded waste were regularly being accepted onto the site the size of a football pitch.

It was calculated that Fletcher Plant, over a period of six months, organised the transport of over 1,400 tonnes of controlled waste.

The judge accepted that the company did not know the site was operating illegally, but its officers had a legal requirement to carry out a duty of care.

The company said it had built a good reputation, and it was the first time it had been prosecuted in over 40 years. A new management team has also been put in place.

HSE | A County Durham waste management company has been fined after a young employee was run over by an excavator.

Farm XS (Northern) Limited, based in Barnard Castle, was sentenced after an incident on 29 January 2024 that left the 24-year-old with serious injuries.

The employee was only in his second week of employment at the Staindrop Road site when he was struck from behind by an excavator and run over. He suffered fractures to both feet.

The HSE found that the company had failed to ensure a safe system of work was in place. The 24-year-old was working on a waste pile near moving vehicles with no physical separation between them. There was no risk assessment or system of work to protect pedestrians from vehicle movements.

Farm XS (Northern) Limited, Shaw Bank, Staindrop Road, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8TD pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £4,285 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Richard McMullen said: “The outcome could have been much worse. But the failures that day meant a worker received serious injuries.

“This incident was easily avoidable by implementing control measures and safe practices to ensure that workers were not put at risk from moving vehicles, including clear segregation and safe refuges.

“This should be a reminder to the waste industry of the need to consider workplace transport risks and to introduce appropriate control measures to separate vehicles and pedestrians.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Iain Jordan and paralegal officer Helen Jacob.

HSE | A Manchester-based construction company has been fined after workers were put at risk of exposure to asbestos.

A1 Property Maintenance Management Limited was acting as the principal contractor during work at the former Unicorn Public House on Liverpool Road, Eccles, Greater Manchester.

During a routine inspection to the site on 16 May 2022, a HSE inspector discovered that 12 square metres of asbestos insulation board (AIB) had been present in a dumb waiter lift shaft – but had already been illegally removed by unknown individuals. This led to the inspector issuing a prohibition notice stopping all work on site until an asbestos survey had been completed.

Previously, after noticing the pub door had been broken into, a site worker had entered the building, where they discovered what appeared to be asbestos debris in the area around the lift shaft. The debris was later wrapped and removed by a licensed asbestos removal contractor.

However, A1 Property Maintenance Management Limited failed to carry out a full asbestos survey to confirm that all asbestos-containing materials had been removed before allowing further construction work to take place.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(6) of The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. It was fined £5,360 and ordered to pay £5,117 in costs at a hearing at Tameside Magistrates’ Court on 30 July 2025.

Speaking after the hearing, a HSE spokesperson said: “This was a serious incident and put those working in the building at risk of being exposed to the harmful effects of asbestos.

“Duty holders are reminded of the need to review without delay an asbestos assessment if there has been a significant change in the premises to which the assessment relates.”

The prosecution was supported by HSE enforcement lawyer Sam Crockett and paralegal Hannah Snelling.

HSE | A worker suffered serious injuries after falling from a flat roof that did not have any edge protection.

It was the second time Gary Smith, trading as GJ Smith Roofing, had failed to provide edge protection on a job, with HSE previously taking enforcement action against him.

Smith pleaded guilty following the incident on 15 December 2022, when a team of roofers and labourers were working on his behalf, replacing a flat roof on a house in the Luton area.

At around 11am, one of the workers was carrying large wooden boards across the roof, when he inadvertently stepped off the edge of the roof falling a distance of about 10 feet. He suffered a fractured vertebrate in his back and a broken ankle.

The HSE investigation found the task had not been properly risk assessed and planned which meant that edge protection around the flat roof had not been put in place, despite it being reasonably practicable to do so. Following HSE intervention, edge protection was installed before work re-commenced.

Gary Smith of Watling Street, Dunstable, pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 4(1) of the Work At Height Regulations 2005. He was fined £2,125 and ordered to pay costs of £5,445.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Tim Nicholson said: “Clearly Mr Smith hadn’t learnt from his previous failures. Sadly, this latest offence resulted in a man being seriously injured.

“What makes this incident even more frustrating is the fact it could so easily have been avoided by properly planning the task and ensuring that suitable edge protection had been put in place prior to work starting.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by enforcement lawyer Julian Ward and paralegal officer Helen Hugo.

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