Wet wipes ‘are causing an ecological disaster’

Whether they’re being used to remove make-up, clean the baby or make the bath spick and span, it seems that disposable wipes are everywhere.

their convenience for all sorts of jobs and the fact they can be simply tossed down the loo means their popularity has soared and the market for them is now worth £500million in the UK alone.

But wet wipes are causing an ecological disaster, green campaigners warn. A survey of Britain’s beaches showed that there were nearly 4,000 littering the UK coastline – around 80 per mile.

the wipes – which contain synthetic fibres that do not break down in water – are blocking up sewers as they combine with fats poured down the sink to create ‘fatbergs’.

Other plastic items that wrongly get flushed away – such as cotton buds – compound the problem. these blockages can lead to untreated sewage ending up in rivers and seas – or backing up into our homes.

Many wipes – even those labelled ‘flushable’ or biodegradable – fail to meet the water industry standard, experts said.

Part of their popularity can be attributed to the fact that they remove a step during the cleaning process, according to market researcher euromonitor.

For example, instead of putting make- up remover on a cotton pad or tissue, the wipe has the product built in. even celebrities have endorsed the use of the wet wipe.

Will Smith encouraged others to use wet wipes as a replacement to toilet paper.

the hollywood actor told BBC radio 1: ‘Anyone who’s using dry toilet paper, you’re really not doing yourself the true service.’

Brad Pitt and singers Bruno Mars and Will.i.am are also said to be fans.

the Marine Conservation Society is calling on retailers and manufacturers to label their wet wipe products with the message ‘Don’t Flush’ in large letters. Pollution expert at the MCS, Dr Laura Foster, said: ‘Our sewerage systems weren’t built to cope with wet wipes.

‘When flushed they don’t disintegrate like toilet paper, and they typically contain plastic so once they reach the sea, they last for a very long time. they can cause blockages in our sewers.’

Water companies estimate that the wipes contribute to around 366,000 blockages a year costing about £88million to sort out – a cost that will eventually be passed on to customers.

In 2015, during the MCS Great British Beach Clean, volunteers found nearly 4,000 wet wipes around the UK coastline – a 30 per cent rise on the previous year and a 400 per cent rise in a decade.

When wet wipes finally do break down, they leave behind toxic microplastics which can be eaten by sea creatures ranging from plankton to whales.

Dr Foster said: ‘this source of microplastic is easy to prevent and we want any product which is being designed to be washed or flushed down the drain to be free from plastics.’