Environment Agency drones are being deployed more aggressively against organised fly-tipping, with a 33-strong pilot squad logging 272 flight hours since July and preparing to carry light detection and ranging (LiDAR) payloads for high-resolution volumetric mapping of illegal waste sites. Moving LiDAR from manned aircraft to UAVs is intended to give prosecutors precise 3D evidence of waste locations and extents, while a new screening tool cross-checks lorry licence applications against waste permit records to flag suspect operators. Enforcement capacity has been boosted with the joint waste crime unit expanded from 13 to 20 staff, supporting 751 illegal sites shut and 221 prosecutions since March 2025 under a £15.6m enforcement budget.

Britain is being urged to treat deep and shallow geothermal as a mainstream heat source, with a new national roadmap arguing that the country’s substantial but underused subsurface resource could displace a significant share of gas‑fired heating. The plan points to proven concepts such as mine‑water geothermal in former coalfields and district heating from deep sedimentary aquifers, which can be integrated with existing heat networks and large heat pumps. For civil and geotechnical engineers, this signals growing demand for high‑temperature boreholes, well integrity design and long‑term monitoring of thermal–hydraulic behaviour in urban ground.

WSP and Mott MacDonald have secured a £25M contract from Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE‑N) to deliver environmental services and permitting support for the proposed small modular reactor (SMR) development at Wylfa on Anglesey. The consultancies will lead environmental impact assessment, regulatory interface and consents strategy for the multi‑unit SMR site, a former nuclear location with complex coastal, seismic and ecological constraints. Early permitting work will be critical for geotechnical investigations, marine works and long‑lead nuclear island foundations once a reactor technology is selected.