Government ministers are being urged to ban wet wipes that contain plastic to reduce environmental damage. Under new proposed legislation, disposable wipes that are not environmentally friendly could soon be outlawed, if ministers decide to go ahead with it.
The move has been described as "very achievable action" by MPs, and would “dramatically reduce plastic in our environment”. It comes as Labour's Fleur Anderson urged the Government to “come clean” following the end of its consultation on February 12 and to “move ahead” with the ban.
The MP for Putney, who has presented the Plastics (Wet Wipes) Bill before the Commons, added that such a move could even lessen the “use of wet wipes altogether”. Speaking to PA news agency, she said: “It’s still the case that we use at least 11 billion wet wipes a year. That it is in 90 per cent of material that blocks loos and it costs £100 million to water companies to clear those blockages.”
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A number of shops have already taken action to axe wet wipes from shelves, including Boots and Tesco, which Ms Anderson said had banned plastic in all the wet wipes that they sell. “If Boots and Tesco can do it, all the manufacturers can do it,” she added.
While addressing the impact wet wipes have on sewer systems, she said: “There’s a lack of awareness that flushing them down, they don’t disintegrate, they do stay in the system for a long time. They do go out to the sea, they go on the banks of the Thames.
"There are 30,000 blockages a year because of wet wipes, 90 per cent of those sewage material according to the water companies is wet wipes… that costs us money in our water bills.” She also said how the product has caused marine damage and is killing fish through the ingestion of plastic and pollution to rivers via storm overflows.
“There’s an island the size of two tennis courts and I’ve been and stood on it, it’s near Hammersmith Bridge in the Thames and it’s a metre deep or more in places of just wet wipes… it’s actually changed the course of the River Thames.”
Companies that produce wet wipes have been able to replace plastic with other materials, she said, adding that it is "perfectly possible… there are biodegradable alternatives such as bamboo."
Ms Anderson pointed to the current “confusing packaging”, adding: “That’s why banning any plastic in the manufacture of wet wipes is really important… It’s very confusing for the public, they want to do the right thing.”
Such a law change, she said, offered the Government the chance to be “world leading”, adding: “It matches up to their words, they’ve got to have the actions to back that up and this is a very achievable action that they can take.” Ms Anderson is seeking further consideration of her Bill at second reading on September 16.
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