War on the wet wipe
Government steps up drive to banish single-use plastic that’s blighting Britain’s rivers and seas by declaring...
WET wipes containing toxic plastic could be banned under plans to clean up our rivers and seas.
Stricter labelling could also be brought in to urge consumers not to flush the single-use items down the toilet – even if they do not contain plastic.
UK Ministers are set to announce the crackdown in the coming days, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Plastic-free wet wipes would be unaffected by any ban, and many manufacturers have already started to switch to more sustainable alternatives. The most recent figures show that 90 per cent of the 11billion wet wipes used in the UK each year contain plastic, says the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).
When flushed, all wet wipes help to create fatbergs – a mass of wipes, paper, cooking fat and sewage that clogs up sewers, pollutes rivers and harms wildlife. Despite some being labelled as ‘fine to flush’, there are also concerns about how long they take to break down.
Two years ago, Ministers called for evidence as to whether plastic wet wipes should face a total ban.
When the findings were published earlier this year, 96 per cent of respondents said they would support a ban on wet wipes containing plastic, though only 50 per cent of manufacturers agreed.
The Government response said: ‘Given public appetite for implementing a ban on wet wipes containing plastic, we note this to be a course of action that will be carefully considered.’
Wet wipes are believed to be responsible for 93 per cent of the blockages in sewers, costing £100million a year to clear.
Although the move will not directly apply to Scotland, the Scottish Government has previously said it is in favour of a ban.
A document on single-use plastics produced last year, read: ‘We continue to work with the UK Government and the other devolved nations to make that a reality.’
Scottish Office Minister Lord Offord added: ‘We’re keen to work with the Scottish Government on this hugely important issue.’
Meanwhile, companies have been accused by MPs of wrongly labelling their products as flushable. The MCS has called for wet wipes to carry a ‘fine to flush’ label only if manufacturers can prove they break down fully.
Allison Ogden-Newton of Keep Britain Tidy said: ‘Wet wipes are the devil’s work. Once in the sewerage system, via our loos, they cause no end of environmental damage.
‘They block our Victorian plumbing, leading to increased use of overflow pipes and even more raw sewage entering rivers and seas.
‘They are so damaging they have formed monumental mounds in our waterways, changing the course of rivers like the Thames.
‘The best we can hope for is they disintegrate into microplastics, further damaging the natural world and even entering our food chain.’
She added: ‘We need legislation to make it clear that they must never be put down the loo.’
In 2021, Labour MP Fleur Anderson introduced a Private Member’s Bill calling for a ban, and major retailers such as Boots and Tesco have already banned wet wipes which contain plastic.
The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this year that single-use plastic plates, cups and cutlery will also be banned by the end of December.
Our sister paper, the Daily Mail, has led the way on banning singleuse items through its award-winning Turn The Tide On Plastic and Banish The Bags campaigns.
In another move, water companies in England could face unlimited fines for pollution. Environment Secretary Therese Coffey is expected to announce plans to ‘make polluters pay’.
Latest Environment Agency figures showed there were 301,091 sewage spills in 2022 – an average of 824 a day.