Natural Resources Wales and the Coal Authority’s Mining Remediation Authority used a PDG helicopter to place 109 bags of stabilisation material along the Nant y Bai riverbank at Nant y Mwyn lead mine, Carmarthenshire, where about 300m³ of spoil was at immediate risk of being washed into the river. The airlift avoided haul roads and heavy plant, limiting ground disturbance and allowing follow‑up hand work to protect rare grassland around the site. Reducing severe spoil erosion is expected to cut cadmium and zinc loading to the Afon Tywi, currently elevated for up to 25 km downstream.

Egis has appointed Afshan Rasheed to lead a new UK environmental consultancy practice, positioned alongside its existing energy, water and transport teams. The unit will deliver environmental impact assessment and wider environmental services across Egis’s major infrastructure and engineering portfolio, embedding sustainability criteria from early optioneering through to construction delivery. Rasheed, who has previously held senior roles at major engineering consultancies, is tasked with scaling specialist environmental capability and building high-performing, multidisciplinary teams across the UK business.

Saudi Arabia is overhauling waste management under Vision 2030, with the National Center for Waste Management (MWAN) targeting 94% diversion of municipal solid waste from landfill and 100% treatment of hazardous and medical waste by 2035. The strategy includes expanding engineered sanitary landfills, waste-to-energy plants and construction and demolition recycling facilities, alongside stricter permitting and data systems for industrial waste streams. For geotechnical practitioners, this signals rising demand for landfill lining systems, leachate control, gas capture infrastructure and brownfield remediation expertise across multiple regions.