Wet wipes to carry ‘do not f lush’ labels
THE makers of wet wipes have given in to pressure by agreeing to re-label products with warnings not to flush them down the toilet.
The wipes can cause blockages – creating ‘ fatbergs’ as they soak up fat in sewers – as well as polluting rivers and seas with tiny plastic fibres.
They have surged in popularity in recent years to cover a huge range of purposes, ranging from cleaning babies and removing cosmetics to wiping furniture and dirty floors.
As the Daily Mail reported last week, warnings that wipes are not flushable are not highly visible at present – something the industry’s trade body said its members will rectify.
Now leading makers will have to reconsider guidelines on packaging and have pledged to change them within 18 months.
The companies include Unilever, which makes the Simple range of beauty wipes, Procter & Gamble, which makes Pampers baby wipes, and Johnson & Johnson, which also produces baby wipes.
Edana, the European body for firms producing ‘ nonwoven fabrics’, said yesterday: ‘We accept we could have done better on this.
‘All these products should have “do not flush” logos and labels at the point of extraction – meaning around the lid or other opening – rather than the back of the packet.’ The move is set to cover non-flushable wipes.
However, there is growing concern over many products marked as ‘ flushable’ that water companies say do not actually break up once down the toilet.
The trade body Water UK has called on trading standards officers to investigate whether wipes claiming to be flushable are mislabelled. The industry may be keen to avoid consumer discontent similar to that which engulfed microbeads – tiny abrasive plastic lumps used in cleansing products – which have been criticised for polluting waterways and harming fish and other marine animals all over the world.
Tamara Galloway, professor of ecotoxicology at Exeter University told the Sunday Times: ‘We find microplastics in every sea water sample we collect, and most are fibres.
‘The UK coast isn’t the only area. Scientists around the world are reporting fibres in sea water, fresh water and sediment. We’ve also found them in the guts of fish and turtles and the tissues of other animals.’
However, Edana maintained that ‘flushable’ wet wipes do disintegrate when disposed of. Edana said: ‘Toilet wet wipes for adults may look similar, but they are made of cellulose so break down rapidly in sewers, whereas beauty wipes and baby wipes have to be much stronger and so are made of materials like polyester.’
Water companies spend approximately £88million a year clearing an estimated 360,000 blockages, half of which are caused by the disposal of wet wipes.
The British market for wet wipes is estimated to be worth about £500million.
In the United States, wet wipe manufacturers face a series of law suits from householders in several states over claims that their products are flushable – but consumers claim they have suffered blockages and other damage from the products.