U-turn on 'flushable' wet wipes welcomed by Keep Britain Tidy

Keep Britain Tidy has welcomed a move by water industry bosses to put an end to the 'confusion' surrounding wet wipes and whether it is safe to flush them down the loo.

Unlike toilet paper, many wipes don’t break down quickly and even though they have been labelled 'flushable', doing so has caused serious sewer system blockages.

Environmental experts have repeatedly blamed wet wipes for polluting waterways and causing so-called 'fatbergs' by clogging up sewage pipes.

Water UK - the trade association that represents the UK's water and wastewater companies - has now issued guidance that no used wet wipes should ever be flushed down the toilet.

This means a previous certification scheme allowing makers of 'flushable' wet wipes to display a logo on packaging that said 'fine to flush', with an image of a lavatory seat and a tick, will be scrapped from the beginning of next month.

Chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: "Wet wipes are the devil's work.

'"We've had a real problem with the term 'flushable' and campaigned against it because it encouraged people to flush them down the loo.

'"If you stand on Hammersmith Bridge in London at low tide you will see the river meander through banks of earth but which are in fact mountains of wet wipes.

'"It is costing the public purse a fortune as ultimately we are paying to clean up all this mess."

Previous research by Keep Britain Tidy revealed that 76% of people would stop buying toilet tissue wet wipes if they were told that were not, as manufacturers claim, ‘flushable’.

Furthermore, 85% of consumers would view these products less favourably if they were to learn that they went on to cause blockages and/or environmental pollution.