10 factory farm corporations produce more toxic excrement than the UK’s 10 largest cities

New research reveals that factory farm corporations that supply to high street supermarkets produce shocking amounts of waste and have no or inadequate policies to prevent this pollution reaching UK rivers.

Just 10 large agribusinesses are responsible for producing almost double the excrement that is produced by the 10 largest cities in the UK, new analysis from Sustain and Friends of the Earth has found.

The companies, including 2Sisters (including Hook2Sisters), Arla, Avara Foods, Cranswick, and Moy Park, have over 144 million animals in production at any one time. They are responsible for up to 55,262 tonnes of animal waste per day.

Analysis of these agribusinesses’ operational areas shows that they are clustered in polluted river catchments including the Wye, Trent, Severn, Lough Neagh and the Broadland Rivers. All supply to major UK retailers, and none were found to have policies to prevent pollution leeching into water bodies.