Wet wipes and plastics roundup

It has become “common practice” in the UK to flush wet wipes, sanitary towels and tampons down the toilet, according to a survey commissioned by Thames Water. The survey of over 2,000 people found 45% have put at least one such product down the loo, with 29% flushing wipes, 24% tampons and 12% nappies – with 55% saying they rarely think about what happens to them afterwards. Only 27% said they wouldn’t flush these items if they knew it would cause damage to the environment. Thames Water said each year it spends £18m clearing 75,000 blockages from its sewers. Its ‘Bin it, don’t block it’ campaign includes a TV advert, information and advice for households.

The Second Reading of Fleur Anderson’s Plastics (Wet Wipes) Bill in the Commons – to ban plastics in wipes – will now take place on 18 March.

Scottish Water has launched Nature Calls, a new campaign to encourage customers to bin wipes and policymakers to ban wipes containing plastic. It is backed by organisations including the Marine Conservation Society, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Zero Waste Scotland, as well as the Scottish Government. Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said: “We support the calls to ban wet wipes containing plastic and encourage the UK Government and other administrations to work with us to bring forward bans on unnecessary and environmentally harmful products.

In its response to Defra’s call for evidence on plastic pollution and litter, Water UK backed Anderson’s Bill and called for it to go further by requiring all wipes not only to be plastic free, but also to pass ‘Fine to Flush’ standards. It also argued Defra’s call for evidence should take in a range of additional commonly flushed items currently not covered, including cosmetic and household cleaning wipes, tampons, sanitary pads and condoms. It said plastic should be banned from all of these items and mandatory ‘do not flush’ labelling added to packaging.

Some individual water companies have gone further. For instance Yorkshire Water, together with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, has called for an end to fine to flush labelling as well as a raft of other actions.