The proliferation in the use and mismanagement of wet wipes waste has become one of the most important environmental pollution problems in some countries (Spain, to name a few). The impact of the remains of these personal hygiene and cleaning products in sanitation systems (sewers, sewage collectors, treatment plants) and in river beds, reservoirs and the sea in general is of particular concern.
The European Union, and the transposition of its regulations to Spain, tries to implement the first regulations to deal with this problem, but the solution is still very far from becoming a reality, as shown by the constant information on the accumulation of this waste.
The United Kingdom has been studying a first regulatory regulation in this regard for two years and, if the expectations are confirmed, in England (specifically) a first law could be applied that would prohibit the commercialization and use of wipes that contain plastics. This regulation is part of a broader plan to improve water quality in England, where no river or waterway is considered clean.
The objective is not easy and the proposal is relatively ambitious (the market for wet wipes is also huge in the United Kingdom) but, before the first draft of the regulation, the environmental groups, which two years ago already presented a proposal on the subject, they consider that it is essential to overcome all resistance to protect the environment.
The first of the environmental objections is that, from what is known so far, the ban would only affect wipes that contain plastics, without specifying whether certain polymers or synthetic non-wovens fall into this category or not.
Wet wipes flushed down toilets cause 93% of sewer blockages, including so-called fatbergs, and cost around the equivalent of €110m a year to clean, according to Water UK, which represents the water industry.
Around 90% of wipes contained plastic in 2021, although there are now some alternatives available to buy. Plastics don’t break down, and over time, wipes snag and stick together, causing sewage to stop moving through pipes.
“Our proposal is to ban plastic in wet wipes,” Environment Minister Therese Coffey told BBC News, going on to detail that a public consultation has yet to be completed to make a concrete ban possible in England.
England first looked at regulating plastic products such as wet wipes in 2018. In a 2021 government consultation on banning wet wipes, 96% of people said they supported the idea.
A proposed ban on plastic in wet wipes has yet to be implemented in Wales. The Scottish government inquired about a ban but has taken no further action.
In a partial measure that some sectors consider a simple commercial strategy, some manufacturing companies are now announcing that they have halted the manufacture of wet wipes with plastics (but they continue to market the rest of the models).
The ban on wet wipes is part of a broader strategy, called the Water Scheme, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) wants to improve England’s water quality. It includes a possible ban on some types of so-called forever chemicals, or PFASs, which address pollution from agriculture and runoff from road traffic.
But environmental charity River Action UK said the government had been “asleep at the wheel” for many years, allowing rivers to “fill up with untreated human effluent and toxic agricultural pollution”.
Opposition political parties criticized the government’s plans, calling them too little too late.
“This announcement is nothing more than a proposal of good intentions and a reconsideration of old failed measures that will not solve the real problem of water pollution,” said Jim McMahon, head of the environment for the Labor Party, in statements released by the BBC.
Environment Liberal Democrat spokesman Tim Farron called the announcement a “complete hoax”. “Once again, the Conservative government is playing the public for a fool by re-announcing a five-year-old wet wipes policy. The government is all talk and no action,” Tim Farron harshly criticized.
The Green Party said the government’s plans “leave the water industry in private hands capable of profiting from failure.” “The Green Party wants to see a change in the system, to get our water supply back into public ownership as soon as possible,” Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said.
