One in five Brits still flush wet wipes

Just under a fifth of Brits still flush wet wipes down the toilet, despite most people understanding the damage it causes.

Some 17% of British adults said that they flush wet wipes down the toilet, with 31% of Brits admitting to flushing other items down the toilet such as nappies or cotton pads, annual research carried out for Water UK shows.

That is a slight improvement on the 22% who said they flush wet wipes during the same survey carried out last year.

Reasons for flushing wet wipes stated were: the belief that it is safe to do so (43%), convenience (36%), always done this (26%), don’t know any other way (15%) and not having a bin in the bathroom (14%).

That is despite 76% of those surveyed stating that they are aware of the damage, pollution or harms flushing wet wipes can cause and 88% saying that protecting homes, animals and the environment is important to them.

William Davies, communications director, at Water UK, said: “We know the harms flushing wet wipes can cause yet our polling shows that many of us are still doing it.

“In 2024, we want everyone to make a resolution to prevent non-flushable waste going down the loo and to dispose of wet wipes and other items in the bin. By making this simple change we can do our bit to protect the environment and our homes.”

NI Water has also launched a campaign to raise public awareness to “stop flushing inappropriate items”.

The water company water a 20% increase in sewer blockages in December due to inappropriate items being flushed such as wet wipes and sanitary items, along with fats, oils and greases.

NI Water’s head of environmental regulation Angela Halpenny said: “NI Water is constantly unblocking sewers, however most of this can be easily prevented.

“The main cause of blocked sewers and out of sewer flooding is the flushing of inappropriate items such as wipes and sanitary products. These form together into a ball of ‘rags’ causing blockages and out of sewer flooding.

“Blockages are completely avoidable if everyone adopts a simple habit of binning everything other than the three P’s – Pee, Poo and Paper. We could be putting our resources to better use, especially as these operational issues can all be avoided by only flushing the 3 Ps.”

Wet wipes containing plastics could finally be banned under a move proposed by the Department of environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) shortly before the end of 2023.

The water sector has long been calling for a ban of plastic wipes which can block pipes and sewers leading to damage to the network.

The government is now consulting on the proposed ban of plastic in wipes with a view to implementing it early this year.

It comes weeks after the Fine to Flush certification scheme was dropped by Defra. The label was launched in 2019 for packaging of wet wipes that will breakdown on entering the sewer network and not contribute to blockages.

A ban of plastic-containing wipes was mooted in the Plan for Water published by government in April, with a subsequent call for evidence indicating 96% support for a ban.

Robbie Moore, minister for water, added: “Start 2024 with a New Year’s resolution we can all keep – Bin the Wipe! I urge everyone in the UK to get behind this campaign and to be mindful of how we dispose of our waste. If you need to use wet wipes, dispose of them in the bin, not the loo.”