This week has seen a lot of announcements, but don't worry, we're here to keep you up to date with all the latest piece of legislation, treaty negotiations and schemes. 

The UK government has confirmed a SAF mandate

The Department for Transport has launched a new consultation on a sustainable aviation fuel revenue certainty scheme. The government has set the overall SAF demand to increase from 2% of aviation fuel supplied in 2025 to 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040, aiming to achieve Jet Zero. Jet2.com has already announced that they will begin using SAF at London Stansted Airport; let's hope other airlines follow suit.

But that’s not all in the world of SAF - Sheffield University has announced a Clearing House funding scheme

Alongside engineering consultant Ricardo, the university has opened applications so fuel producers can now apply to receive funding that will go towards developing, testing and qualifying SAF products. This suggests that the government's hopes to position the UK at the forefront of decarbonising the global aviation industry could become a feasible reality. 

It's been a big week for legislative announcements, as the UK government is also taking new steps in protecting heat network customers

In response to a recent consultation, the Department for Energy and Net Zero is introducing regulations that will protect over half a million customers whose homes and businesses are connected to heat networks. Read the full story here.

Our previous two bulletins have been filled with news on plastics and the trend continues 

After the recent Global Plastics Treaty negotiations in Ottawa, Plastics Europe has called for a doubling in efforts to address challenges faced in the plastic industry. While there was some positive progress in treaty agreements, such as a collective acknowledgment of systematic changes in how plastics are managed globally, Virginia Janssens, Plastics Europe’s managing director, believes more could be done to mobilise financial backing.

And for the waste that can’t be recycled, Northern Ireland has released impressive stats revealing that 32.4% of its waste is sent for energy recovery

Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) announced that between October and December 2023, of the 233,694 tonnes of waste collected 48.9% was sent to recycling and a third went to energy recovery, resulting in only 17.4% ending up in landfill.