POOR SHORES
CAMPAIGNERS CALL FOR BAN ON TOXIC PRODUCTS Over 30k plastic wet wipes found on beaches in a year
Volunteers collected a shocking 30,000 toxic plastic wet wipes from Scotland’s beaches last year, a new report has revealed.
The Sunday Mail is campaigning along with David Attenborough’s awardwinning Scottish cameraman
Doug Allan for the cloths to be eradicated.
The products k i l l wildlife, pollute beaches and break down into potentially lethal microplastics but are still on shop shelves despite biodegradable versions being available.
They are not included in the ban on single-use plastic products that came into force in Scotland in June.
We teamed up with Scottish Water and the Marine Preservation Society to demand an end to their sale.
The Marine Preservation Society’s yearly Beachwatch report for S cot land ha s revealed the extent of the pollution being caused, with 30,000 wet wipes – which take decades to break down because they contain deadly microplastics – collected.
A spokesman said: “Thanks to over 3000 volunteers, we saw a 15 per cent increase in the number of litter surveys
submitted from Scottish beaches, giving us more data to use as evidence for policy change. “There’s still a lot to be done to reduce beach pollution, with 160 items found on average per 100 metres of beach surveyed. “Over 30,000 wet wipes were picked up in 2022, highlighting the need for a ban on plastic in single-use wet wipes as well as support to switch to reusables.” Tesco said it will not stock new wipes, Sainsbury’s is committed to ending their sale and Waitrose insists it has no wet wipes with plastic.
Brian Lironi, director of corporate af fairs at Scottish Water, said: “Through our Nature Calls campaign, we call for a ban on wipes which contain plastic and would like to see action across Government. “Householders and business can play their part by binning wipes, which mean the risk of sewer blockages, floods and plastic pol lution is reduced.”
Wet wipes are still a major problem on our beaches