Water companies in England ‘use greenwashing playbook to hide environmental harm’

Companies including Thames Water, United Utilities and Severn Trent Water have been accused of using denial and distraction to protect profits. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Water companies are adopting disinformation tactics similar to those used by the fossil fuel and tobacco industries with the widespread use of greenwashing to downplay the environmental harm they cause, a study says.

Environmental scientists analysed the communications of the nine main water and sewerage companies in England, and compared them with a framework of 28 greenwashing tactics employed, researchers say, by the tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels and chemical industries.