Wet Wipes: Plastic Ban

Liam Conlon Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Fleur Anderson]

The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has put his finger on the button, because this is about not flushing wet wipes, no matter what they are made from. Banning plastic in wet wipes is one step forward, but we need to do more. This is a UK-wide issue; no part of the UK is unaffected.

What is the problem? Why am I talking about it so obsessively? First, microplastics from wet wipes pollute our rivers, lakes and oceans. They are ingested by marine animals, from plankton to whales, disrupting feeding, growth and reproduction. Microplastics cause internal injuries, digestive blockages and reduced nutrient absorption. They leach harmful chemicals such as bisphenol A, phthalates and flame retardants. They also absorb pollutants from sea water, such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, which are then released into animals’ tissues upon ingestion.

Those substances can cause hormonal disruption, immune suppression, developmental defects and death. Filter feeders, such as oysters and baleen whales—from very small to very big—are especially vulnerable. Microplastics can also alter sediment composition, affecting bottom-dwelling species, and they can destabilise entire marine ecosystems. They are very small, but they have a huge effect.

Secondly, wet wipes block sewers and drive up water bills. They form fatbergs, trigger storm overflow spills, and cost a lot. In my water company area of Thames Water, it costs £40.7 million every year to clear the blockages. That is £200 million over the current five-year investment cycle.

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

In Beckenham and Penge, there were 167 call-outs related to wet-wipe blockages in 2024. Given the precarious state of our water sector after 14 years of Tory-enabled under-investment, does my hon. Friend agree that we should do all we can to reduce the number of unnecessary call-outs such as those in Beckenham and Penge and across the country?

[Fleur Anderson]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The water companies need to invest in new ways of stopping sewage going out of their systems and in cleaning up our rivers, and not having to spend so much money coming out to clear up the blockages. That is down to wet wipes, so my hon. Friend is exactly right.

The third reason I want to ban plastic from wet wipes is that plastic is made using fossil fuels—it is made from oil —and it is very hard to get rid of. This is one form of plastic that we can cut relatively easily, because alternatives are available to put into wipes to make them stronger. The UK uses over 11 billion wet wipes a year—that is 163 per person. As a mother of four and a grandmother of a little two-year-old, I know how useful they are, but convenience should not come at such a high environmental cost.

Thames21 pulled 5,000 wet wipes from just 116 metres of the Thames. Its annual surveys have evidenced the impact of so many wet wipes on just the banks of the River Thames. I pay tribute to it. The Marine Conservation Society found that wet wipes containing plastic had been found on nearly two thirds of English beaches surveyed. This issue exists across the UK. I have seen the damage myself at the Beckton and Mogden treatment works. They have a special sifting part of the process to clear wet wipes because they are so prevalent.

There is also wet wipe island near Hammersmith bridge, which was surveyed by the Port of London authority after Thames21 revealed the extent of the problem. It is about two tennis courts wide. When you stand on it, you can feel the jelly-like texture because there are so many wet wipes below to such depth. Thankfully, it was cleared this summer because the Tideway tunnel is coming in, so there is far less—95% less—sewage going out into the Thames, which means fewer wet wipes. It will not just fill up again. Five million wet wipes were taken out of wet wipe island. It really demonstrated the damage.

The public are behind us and retailers are stepping up. Boots stopped selling plastic wet wipes in all their stores in 2022 because I have been talking about bringing in this ban and because the Government are promising to do it. Tesco did the same in 2023. Government action now will ensure that all the other retailers follow suit.

Alongside the ban, the message must be clear: do not flush any wipes. Only the three Ps go down the toilet: pee, poo and paper. I support Water UK’s “Bin the Wipe” campaign. Instead of having lots of different campaigns from all the different water companies, which was confusing, there is now a joined-up attitude towards campaigning on this and encouraging people to have bins in their bathrooms so that they throw wipes away instead of flushing them.

I know that the Minister has considered the wider issues, so I would like to hear about some of them. The first issue is the lead-in time. There is an 18-month lead-in time at the moment. After all the delay in bringing in the ban, could that be cut to 12 months to align England and Scotland with Wales, which is bringing in a ban in 12 months’ time in December 2026?

The second issue is labelling. “Fine to flush” labelling is confusing. A little image showing a turtle crossed out means that wipes contain plastic, but it is difficult to understand. We need mandatory “Do not flush” labels on all wipes. Has that been given consideration?

The third issue is about the polluter paying. Has consideration been given to making manufacturers contribute to the cost of the blockages? That could be done through an extended product responsibility scheme.

The fourth issue is exemptions. The proposed legislation contains exemptions allowing pharmacies and some businesses to sell plastic wipes. Could those loopholes be reduced or removed?

The fifth issue is the impact assessment. We do not want an unintended consequence of substitute materials being just as strong or dangerous as plastic. Will there be a full impact assessment alongside the regulations on what happens as a result of the ban, including the safety of substitute materials? I hope to see some good results.

Above all, let us be clear: wipes should be binned, not flushed. I raise that in every school I visit in Putney. I say, “I am going to say something unusual for a politician”. Then I tell the students about it and they are instantly onboard. Children get it. Young people care deeply about the planet.

[Liam Conlon]

My hon. Friend is making an important point about community engagement; education is a really important part. Richard Barnes from the London Wildlife Trust is a constituent of mine in West Wickham in my constituency of Beckenham and Penge. He and the trust do fantastic work engaging local communities across London in education campaigns. Does my hon. Friend feel that that is an important part of her campaign?

[Fleur Anderson]

This is a whole-of-society campaign. I think it is equivalent to when we reduced the use of plastic bags. There had to be some Government regulation, but there also had to be a change of attitude among the people using plastic bags—we need that here. We need Government regulation to push it through faster, otherwise the retailers will be too slow. We also need people to change their behaviour and not flush wet wipes. Groups such as the London Wildlife Trust do a fantastic job in this, as do Thames21 and others. We need a whole-society approach and today is a big step forward in that. Let us show that Parliament listens to young people in Putney and across the country, and understands the issue. I look forward to hearing when action will be taken.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I welcome the chance to set out the actions this Government are taking to tackle the problems caused by wet wipes that contain plastic.

I start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) for the work she has done to raise this important topic, and for her years of campaigning to bring it to the fore. She has had a high-profile campaign to ban wet wipes that contain plastic, including tabling a private Member’s Bill in November 2021. Her campaign has earned cross-party support and backing from major environmental groups, which have paid tribute to her, including Thames21, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Marine Conservation Society and Surfers Against Sewage. She has also worked with major retailers, including Boots and Tesco, to encourage them to remove plastic wet wipes from their shelves.

My hon. Friend has been instrumental in getting us to this point. In fact, I would go as far as to say that without her contribution, we probably would not be at the stage we are now. I pay a full and complete tribute to her. She shows exactly what we can do when we persist. “Persist! Persist!” was the recommendation given to me as a new MP.

The Government are aware of the growing concerns about wet wipes as a source of plastic pollution often found in our natural environment, including in our waterways and on our beaches. They break down into smaller pieces in the water environment, causing huge problems with microplastic pollution, which is harmful to human and animal health.

The good news is that, on 16 September, we laid an affirmative statutory instrument to ban the supply and sale of those harmful products, alongside which we published a full economic impact assessment and explanatory memorandum. The SI debates in Parliament are scheduled to be held shortly, with the Commons debate on 3 November, and the Lords debate on 10 November.

Banning wet wipes that contain plastic will reduce plastic and microplastic pollution, as well as the volumes of microplastics entering waste water treatment sites when wrongly flushed. Additionally, it will reduce marine plastic pollution. There is strong public support for a ban. Very little unites the nation, but 95% of respondents agree with the proposal to ban plastic-containing wet wipes. We are pleased to be taking forward this long-awaited action.

We have been working closely with devolved Governments across the UK to agree a joined-up approach, which is going well. We welcome the decision that some retailers have already taken to stop selling wet wipes that contain plastic, but, of course, the Government need to show leadership from the top and introduce a ban.

Banning wet wipes that contain plastic is part of our wider commitment to encourage more sustainable behaviours around the consumption of single-use plastics. We are also looking more widely at the circular economy for plastics—a future where we keep our resources for longer, where waste is reduced, where we accelerate the path to net zero, where we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, and where our economy prospers and nature thrives. We will publish the first ever circular economy strategy for England in the coming months.

The Government recognise the scale and impact of plastic pollution on the environment, and we are focused on preventing and reducing plastics, along with other litter, from entering the environment.

[Liam Conlon]

We have some fantastic local groups in Beckenham and Penge, including the Crystal Palace Park Trust, Friends of Cator Park and the Birkbeck community initiative, as well as eco-councils at schools such as Stewart Fleming primary and Langley Park school for boys. Will the Minister join me in thanking them for their incredible work to protect our local natural environment? Does she agree that the changes we are making in this place will support that effort to protect our natural environment for future generations?

[Emma Hardy]

I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in thanking all the local groups and children. As has been mentioned, children are hugely interested in this topic, and in the disgusting stories about what ends up down the toilet—I find young children are particularly fascinated with that. I heard an amusing story about a mattress that ended up in the sewer. How on earth does a mattress end up in a sewer? But I was told that if it can be produced, it can end up in the sewers.

People are not always aware of how the actions they take in the home can have a damaging impact on their drains, sewer network and water quality. Admittedly, they may not be able to flush a mattress down the toilet, but they are certainly flushing many other things, including wet wipes, sanitary products, nappies, cotton pads, cotton buds, cigarette butts, plasters and dental floss—I am sad to say that, when I was a child, a few goldfish were flushed as well.

The public have a role to play in ensuring that cooking fats are also not poured down the sink, and that wet wipes and other unflushables are binned rather than flushed. Those are small steps, but they are significant when added together, and they will improve the quality of our rivers, natural environment and wildlife.

The Government are supportive of campaigns that encourage the correct disposal of wet wipes, including Water UK’s “Bin the Wipe” campaign, and we welcome the innovative steps that water companies and others are taking to tackle blockages. One of my favourite developments is Northumbrian Water’s Pipebot patrol. Pipebot is a tiny robot that goes around the sewerage network, inspecting the pipework and raising blockage alerts before a sewer floods. When I first saw it—a tiny robot that has little tools to break down fatbergs or whatever else it comes across—my reaction was, “You are putting WALL-E down the sewers!” [Laughter.] Good for WALL-E, but if he is patrolling the sewers, I do not think he will have quite the same happy ending as he did in the film. Such innovations are emerging, with devices being used to clear blockages, capture wipes and help to identify from which homes or businesses the wipes are coming, with the aim of educating people and advising them on the correct disposal methods.

I am also pleased that the Port of London Authority and Thames Water have cleaned up “wet wipe island”, which has already been mentioned—a huge, 180-tonne fatberg on the River Thames. I have also heard of an example of the circular economy at its best, because we are looking at ways to use fatbergs as valuable sources of biofuel and biodiesel to power buses and trucks. Trucks and buses powered by fatbergs—who would have thought it?

As for the next steps that the Government are taking, the Independent Water Commission has recommended that we take measures to stop pollutants, such as wet wipes, entering the system. We will consider all of the commission’s recommendations.

I will now answer the specific questions of my hon. Friend the Member for Putney. On the lead-in times, we have had to act carefully. We are working with businesses to make sure there is time for them to adapt and to mitigate the risks of excess stocks of wet wipes containing plastics being sent to landfill or being incinerated, which is a concern. That is why we have given the time that we have; our ban is expected to come in from spring 2027, which provides for an 18-month transition period. We are working as quickly as we can, taking into account some of the unintended consequences that might arise from going more quickly.

There is also a medical exemption. Consultation responses and stakeholder engagement with healthcare professionals have indicated that a medical exemption is required until viable plastic-free alternatives are available for medical use. Obviously, research is ongoing and things are developing quickly in this area. However, it is essential to ensure that those who require these products for medical purposes still have access to them.

To account for those who require wet wipes containing plastic for medical care in their own home, the medical exemption will allow for the supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic by registered pharmacists. This is particularly important for infection control purposes. Wet wipes containing plastic will not be permitted for sale on the shelves; people who require them will need to get them through a pharmacist. This is a similar model to the plastic straw ban, where there was a particularly strong reason why certain people might need to continue using plastic straws. It is the same situation with wet wipes.

We are obviously continuing to look at labelling and to consider further action in that area, if needed. And one of the recommendations from the Independent Water Commission was to look at extended producer responsibility for waste water treatment, and we are considering whether we would want that. As we know, a lot of this ends up in: “Write in at the end”.

I hope my responses have also helped to answer the questions of my hon. Friend the Member for Southend East and Rochford (Mr Alaba). I thank him and my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon) for their contributions to the debate today, in which there is huge interest.

Together with the building blocks that the Government have already put in place, this change will mark the most fundamental reset of our water system in a generation, as we consider and take forward the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission on dealing with many of the problems facing water, including pollution, problems around waste water, and what ends up in our rivers, lakes and seas.

In conclusion, I reiterate that banning wet wipes containing plastic is a necessary measure that we are taking forward. I look forward to the debates on the draft regulations to ban these harmful products. I hope the proposals will have the support of all colleagues here today.

Question put and agreed to.