Caption: Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow visited Tops Day Nursery at Musgrove Park Hospital in February 2023 and met with Nursery Manager Chanelle Cochrane to see first-hand how nursery staff make their own environmentally friendly wet wipes.
Rebecca Pow MP welcomes UK-wide ban on wet wipes containing plastic
The UK Government will introduce new world-leading legislation to ban wet wipes containing plastic, the Environment Secretary has confirmed.
Defra intend to bring forward the legislation for England ahead of summer recess, with Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales following by the autumn as part of an aligned approach to bring the ban into force. Wet wipes containing plastic break down into microplastics over time, which research shows can be harmful to human health and disrupt our ecosystems – with a recent survey showing an average of 20 wet wipes were found per 100 metres of beach surveyed across the UK.
Once in our water environment, wet wipes containing plastic can accumulate biological and chemical pollutants, increasing the risk of harm to the animals and humans who encounter them. Banning them will reduce plastic and microplastic pollution and reduce the volume of microplastics entering wastewater treatment sites when wrongly flushed – meaning our beaches and waterways will benefit from the ban.
Responses to the public consultation showed overwhelming support for the proposed ban – which will be introduced via secondary legislation under our Environmental Protection Act 1990 – with 95% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the proposals. The government’s response has been published alongside the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive.
Marking Earth Day 2024, with its theme of ‘Planet vs. Plastics’, the response sets out next steps to deliver the ban, building on action taken across the UK to tackle plastic pollution.
Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow said:
“Legislating for a ban on wet wipes containing plastics is absolutely the right thing to do and I welcome this announcement. I have called for this consistently; starting a campaign on this as a backbencher and in my capacity as the former Water Minister, I prioritised this ban in the Government’s Plan for Water.
Wet wipes containing plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces when in the water environment and can have an unacceptable negative impact on our precious ecosystems. While wastewater treatment works remove up to 99% of microplastics, due to the high volume of microplastics entering the sewerage system, even just 1% can still cause damage to the environment.
Actions to stop microplastics entering the water system in the first place are critical which is why I welcome this ban wholeheartedly. It is a vital and welcome addition to our previous ban on cosmetic and wash off care products containing plastics, which I also called for and clearly demonstrates our determination to clean up our waters and reduce plastics in the environment.”
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said:
“Wet wipes containing plastic are polluting our waterways and causing microplastics to enter the environment. Defra will introduce legislation before the summer recess to crack down on this unnecessary source of pollution, following our successful single-use carrier bag charge and ban on microbeads in personal care products. I have been clear that a step change is needed to protect our waterways from pollution. The ban builds on a raft of actions already taken to protect our waterways and hold water companies accountable - including accelerating investment, putting water company fines back into the environment and quadrupling the number of inspections of water company sites.”
