United Utilities sustainability score: 47/100
United Utilities Group PLC owns United Utilities Water, the regulated water and sewerage company for North West England. The group was incorporated in 2008 and its registered office is in Warrington.
More about United Utilities
Its filed accounts for the year to 31 March 2026 report revenue of £2,616.3m and an average of 6,807 full-time-equivalent staff, and it holds natural capital accounts for over 56,000 hectares of owned land. It is regulated by Ofwat and the Environment Agency.
Founded 2008Head office Warrington, United KingdomStaff ~6,807Revenue £2,616.3M (FY2026, year to 31 March 2026)Website ↗
United Utilities' 2025/26 market-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 539,041 tCO2e, including 239,498 tCO2e added by a 2026 industry update to process-emission factors. On the previous method they rose from 124,418 to 299,543 tCO2e, mainly because all 707 GWh of purchased grid electricity moved to a standard tariff. Scope 3 was 590,950 tCO2e, 36.8% above its 2019/20 baseline against a 25% reduction target, and the company has met two of its four original near-term SBTi targets. The Environment Agency rated it 2 stars for 2024, down from 4, with 347 sewerage pollution incidents. In June 2026 the Environment Agency secured £517,000 through an enforcement undertaking over discharges into the River Tame.
United Utilities scores 47/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified October 2026.
That places United Utilities joint 237th of 934 companies scored, and 3rd of 11 in Water & Sewerage.
What is United Utilities doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Transparency & Accountability (8/10, 8/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Water Impact (2/10, 3/10).
Where United Utilities lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling2/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature6/10No verified restoration beyond its own footprint, or supply chain not mapped for nature risk.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water3/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports8/10No mission-locked structure, such as B Corp certification.
- Its record on controversies4/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is United Utilities's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas United Utilities's score changed?
United Utilities's score has moved from 58 to 47 across 3 recorded reviews, down 11 points.
- 56 → 47-913 October 2026
Moved from Energy Supply / Utilities to the new Water & Sewerage sector (base 40) under methodology v2.5.12: 56 → 47.
- 58 → 56-23 October 2026
Aggregator sweep, source-fix pass: dead cited URLs re-sourced and broker citations replaced with primaries; re-scored under pinned code 9196601.
- Scored 582 August 2026
Initial public score 58 (publish-draft)
What evidence is United Utilities's score based on?
9 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
33% of them were published by United Utilities itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Re-scored 56 → 47 in October 2026 after moving from Energy Supply / Utilities to the new Water & Sewerage sector (base 40) under methodology v2.5.12.
“Market-based 539,041 299,543 124,418 134,239 133,757”
“Our GHG inventory, including all the underlying energy data, has undergone independent third-party verification by Achilles Group”
“Market-based 539,041 299,543 124,418 134,239 133,757”
“45 sewerage pollution incidents per 10,000km of sewer – this is rated as red”
“The Environment Agency (EA) has secured £517,000 from United Utilities after three permit breaches led to a substantial amount of sewage being discharged into the River Tame.”
“Annual Report and Financial Statements (ARFS) for the year ended 31 March 2026”
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How does United Utilities compare with other water & sewerage companies?
Where United Utilities sits among water & sewerage peers.
Among the 11 major water & sewerage brands we've scored, United Utilities sits 3rd of 11.
Who scores higher in Water & Sewerage?
The 2 companies in the sector scoring nearest above United Utilities.
Severn Trent's 2025/26 Scope 1 emissions were 384,205 tCO2e under a company-revised method for process emissions; under the industry-standard method they would be 526,222 tCO2e, and its assurer flagged an elevated reporting risk on the change.
See the breakdown →Pennon group Scope 1 and 2 emissions, assured by Jacobs, fell about 4% in 2025/26, mainly because more renewable electricity was bought for the Bristol Water region, and South West Water's electricity is backed by renewable energy certificates.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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