Fresh thinking at Sepa from a leader with a track record in delivering sustainability…. As the circular economy becomes mainstream and BSI are working on a standard (BS8001).

Guardian Interview with SEPAS chief executive, Terry A’Hearn ‘Scotland’s industries and farmers must cut energy, greenhouse gas emissions and resource use as waste overtakes pollution as the major environmental threat, says head of regulator of SEPA. Scotland’s environment agency has warned the country’s industries and farmers that their waste and inefficiency is now the biggest threat to the environment, overtaking pollution. In a marked shift in strategy, the regulator’s chief executive, Terry A’Hearn, will urge businesses, farmers and manufacturers to adopt a “one planet prosperity” policy designed to cut their energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, waste and resource use.   “The major threat to the environment now is that humanity is overusing the planet as a resource base,” he told the Guardian. A’Hearn argues that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has largely won the battle against so-called gross pollution from onshore sources. Air, water and soil pollution is now far below the levels seen decades ago. Those were 20^th-century problems, he said. But developed economies such as the UK’s are now consuming resources at a rate close to three times the planet’s actual capacity. “I’ve been extremely clear that if we have only one planet, we have to be really, really smart about how we use it,” he said. Sepa, which is sister agency to the Environment Agency in England, has been given greater regulatory power and independence under legislation passed by the Scottish parliament in 2014, including greater freedom to fine polluters. It is now able to levy fines as high as £40,000 without going through state prosecutors, imposing fixed penalties similar to those issued by police for driving offences, and has discretionary powers to penalize repeat offenders far more heavily for repeated breaches. But Sepa’s data shows that 87% of Scottish businesses now have a good or excellent regulatory record, with only 7% rated as poor or very poor. Click here to read more.