Reactions to Dirty Business, the new Channel 4 Docudrama on sewage pollution, suggest the UK water industry is in for another heavy battering. After the 3-episode series aired on 23 Feb 2026 it has received extensive coverage on all major press and media outlets, from BBC News to Woman and …
This month, the EU introduced mandatory systematic monitoring requirements for per and polyfluoroalkyl-substances (PFAS) in drinking water, aimed at promoting compliance with new limit values in the revised EU Drinking Water Directive (2024/2184). The new limits are 0.5 µg/L for total PFAS and 0.1 µg/L for the sum of 20 …
The third episode in EBIC’s Engbio Tech podcast series is now available HERE. Dr Boyd McKew and Senior Research Officer Hannah Adams of the University of Essex discuss topics from current oil-spill clean-up strategies, to the kinds of engineered microbes that are being explored to break down hydrocarbons more efficiently. …
An episode of the BBC’s Panorama programme aired on 1 Dec 2025 with the title The Truth about Forever Chemicals.  While EBNet’s PFAS WG and the EBIC Hub obviously take this issue very seriously indeed, we are not sure some of the apparent messages here were very helpful. The programme …
Webinar date: Mon 1 Dec 2025, 12:30-13:15 UK The EPSRC-funded Better Water 4All Network+ is hosting its first webinar on Engineering for the challenges of Forever Chemicals (PFAS) in drinking water. The speaker is Dr Yanyan Zhang who leads the Analysis and Degradation Mechanism of Emerging Contaminants Laboratory in Westlake …
A BBC News item reports that seven UK water companies have been issued with enforcement notices requiring them to take action on potentially harmful concentrations of PFAS ‘Forever chemicals’ in water supplies to an estimated 6 million people. The cases were identified through analysis of Freedom of Information requests to …
A new report from BB-REG-NET examines the breakdown of biodegradable plastics in the environment. Based on case studies in composting, agriculture and forestry, it concludes that certified biodegradable plastics break down at similar rates to their rate of entry into environment, preventing long-term accumulation. Scenarios considered include direct placement of …
Date: 3 Nov 2025, 12:00 UK Register HERE Accurate quantification of methane emissions from sites and processes is an issue for a range of environmental biotechnologies, from landfill to slurry lagoons and large-scale anaerobic digestion. Agricultural methane sources, such as livestock farming, pose the same problems and can be particularly …
PFAS continues to draw the attention of regulators and others, to such an extent that it can sometimes be hard to keep up. Fortunately the UK’s Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments group (CL:AIRE) has now set up a PFAS Webpage that compiles relevant information from around the world.  Non-commercial …
The Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA) has kindly made a recent webinar on Bioplastics available to EBNet members – watch it here. The presenter is Prof Jhuma Sadhukhan of the University of Surrey, who is UK Lead for the Global Center for Sustainable bioproducts (GCSB). The webinar covers the following …
Two years ago algal blooms in Lough Neagh, the UK’s largest freshwater lake, were so severe they caught international attention. Plans were drawn up and debated, but now it looks like the issue is firmly back in the news. Dr Les Gornall, an expert in Anaerobic Digestion and animal slurries …
Earlier this year EBNet’s PFAS WG presented a Position Statement identifying knowledge gaps and the need for development of cost-effective approaches able to degrade PFAS. Since then the WG has: run a successful international workshop co-sponsored by EBNet and the Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre (EBIC) – see video playlist presented …
Today is a public holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so a quirky item that may interest bird lovers seems suitable… Brett Westwood is a radio presenter and author specialising in natural history, especially birds. Angela Bywater, EBNet’s former Network Co-Manager who now manages the UK side of the …
The Independent Water Commission’s Review of the Water Sector in England and Wales, released on 21 July, may have produced less public furore than anticipated – in part as many of its recommendations targeted the regulators rather than the water companies. But there are signs that another sectoral issue may …
An EBNet-funded POC awarded to Dr Tao Lyu, the PFAS WG Lead, looked at the use of molecular docking and dynamics simulations to investigate interactions between enzymes and PFAS compounds, with the goal of helping to elucidate potential mechanisms for PFAS biodegradation and providing tools to bridge the gap between …
