Environment performance
The table below details our environment value measures and targets to 2025. It reports our performance and demonstrates progress in protecting and enhancing the environment as part of delivering our purpose.
Performance highlights to 2022 include:
- Overall pollution incidents reduced by over a third since 2020.
- Published ‘Better Rivers: Better North West’, our plan to improve the health of rivers across our region in the next three years.
- Included nature-related financial disclosures in our 2022 Annual Report.
- First UK water company to have emissions targets, including scope 3, verified by SBTi.
- 2021/22 was the sixteenth year we outperformed our leakage target, reaching a new low in leakage levels.
To understand the verification process for our data, please see CR reporting.
From 2020-21 onwards we have adopted a new set of measures for our environment to demonstrate how we are fulfilling our purpose which is why there is no trend data this year. The progress we have already made to operate in a responsible manner is demonstrated in our 2015-20 measures and targets performance.
| Measure | Target to 2025 | 2021/22 Performance | 2020/21 Performance |
| EA EPA | Upper quartile | Upper quartile | Upper quartile |
| Leakage reduction | 15% | 8% | 5% |
| % waste to benefical use | 98% | 97.8% | 97.3% |
| Enhancing natural capital for customers | £4 million | £3.234 million | Delivery scheduled from 2022 |
| Number of trees planted | 500,000 | 244,639 | 216,601 |
| Better air quality: nitrogen axides (NOx) emissions per GWh of renewable electricity generated | 1.42 NOx/GWh 1.3 NOx/GWh | 1.19 NOx/GWh | 1.3 NOx/GWh |
| Climate change mitigation: meeting our science-based reduction target | 14% | 2.2% decrease | 1% increase |
| Climate change adaptation: multiple measures | See TCFD section of our 2021 Annual Report | ||