A Sunday Mail campaign to end the sale of toxic plastic wet wipes that clog our beaches and kill wildlife is launched today.
A staggering one billion wipes are flushed down our toilets every year – and around 90 per cent contain plastics that take more than 100 years to break down.
We have joined forces with Scottish Water who are launching a drive to highlight the horrifying environmental damage and force the Government to implement a total ban.
Our campaign has been backed by high-profile environmental activists including Sir David Attenborough’s Bafta and Emmy award-winning cameraman Doug Allan.
He said: “I have seen the damage around the world that these things have done. I think it would have 100 per cent public support if the Scottish Government was to lead the way on this and ban wet wipes containing plastic now.”
Opposition politicians have also thrown their weight behind the campaign, along with the Marine Preservation Society, which fights for cleaner, healthier waters and oceans.
Wet wipes containing plastic cause millions of pounds of damage to our drains and sewers every year.
Millions of them are then washed up on river banks and beaches, creating disgusting eyesores and destroying the natural habitats of birds, fish and other marine life.
Even when they finally do break down, they go on to form micro-plastic particles that are ingested by animals and can ultimately end up in the human food chain.
Non-plastic wipes that meet the official “Fine to Flush” standard are now available and Scottish Water said it was time all others be removed from supermarket shelves.
Brian Lironi, director of Scottish Water’s corporate affairs, said: “It is time for governments to take action and ban wipes that contain plastic.
“We are making that call in a UK Government-led consultation and we will repeat our call in a Scottish Government consultation on marine litter.
“Wipes flushed down toilets cause significant problems – from blockages which choke sewers and flood homes to the pollution of rivers and beaches.
“We can all play our part in reducing the impact of wipes now. We should always bin them and never flush them.
“Our support for a ban on wipes containing plastic is combined with our plans to invest significantly in improving our waste water network to reduce sewage-related debris in the environment, protect public health and deliver an effective service for
2.6million households.”
The Marine Conservation Society said wet wipes are one of the most common items to be found polluting beaches and coastlines. Volunteers regularly pick thousands from beaches where they have been washed up among other plastic waste. As well as creating eyesores, they can kill seabirds and fish, either because they are eaten or become tangled in wings and gills.
Even after 100 years, wet wipes will continue to pollute through the microplastic particles they release.
A report in November found the particles are so rife, humans breathe in up to 7000 every day – posing a potential health threat that could rank alongside asbestos or tobacco.
The study, led by Dr Fay Couceiro at Portsmouth University, used cutting-edge technology to count tiny particles less than 10 microns in size – a 10th of the width of a human hair. Previous studies found microplastic particles lodged in all parts of the body,
including the brain, gut and womb.
The Scottish Government is carrying out a consultation to investigate ways of tackling marine litter. It will inform a Marine Litter Strategy and action plan expected to be published later this year.
The Sunday Mail has already led a successful campaign to get rid of millions of plastic straws and a ban on them and other single-use plastics is set to come into force in June.
But there are understood to be fears the UK Internal Market Act 2020 – introduced after Brexit – could create barriers to it being properly implemented.
Environment Minister Mairi McAllan insisted the Scottish Government supported a proposed ban and wanted to work with other administrations across the UK to deliver one.
She said: “The actions we take at home can help protect Scotland’s world-renowned rivers, lochs, wetlands and seas. Flushing inappropriate items contributes to serious blockages in our sewers, unsightly debris in our rivers and can cause great harm to our marine environment.
“Every year hundreds of millions of pieces of single-use plastic are wasted in this country – they litter our coasts, pollute our oceans and contribute to the climate emergency. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds and we have taken action to place market restrictions on plastic microbeads.
“We are pursuing proposals to ban some of the most problematic single-use plastic items, such as straws and plastic cutlery, subject to the impact of the UK Internal Market Act 2020. We support 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.”
Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “Single-use wet wipes containing plastic are a major polluter. The Scottish Government has been
sluggish to take action to ban these wipes that are clogging up our sewers at huge expense to taxpayers and harming our marine environment.
“SNP and Green ministers should not be waiting for Tory ministers at Westminster to act. Labour MP Fleur Anderson’s plastics (wet wipes) bill would prohibit the manufacture and sale of wet wipes containing plastic. Scotland needs to get on with it.
“Most people don’t realise how harmful these wet wipes can be to human health and the planet.”
While a number of supermarkets have committed to eradicating plastic from their own-brand wet wipes and achieving the “Fine to Flush” official stamp of approval, they continue to sell branded wipes containing plastic.
Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer said: “A ban on some of the worst single-use plastics was one of the first thing the Greens announced when we entered government last year.
“It’s supposed to come into force in June but the UK Government are holding it in limbo. using a provision of their Internal Markets Act, a post-Brexit power grab against the Scottish and Welsh governments.
“We would ban plastic wet wipes in a heartbeat but, despite it being a devolved power, it’s one of the many examples of Westminster holding us back for no good reason.”
The Scottish Conservatives’ Brian Whittle said: “Wet wipes continue to be a scourge on our society. It would be positive if the Scottish and UK Governments worked together to bring about measures that would see these wipes consigned to history.”
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