Labour MP launches campaign to ban plastic in wet wipes

A bill put forward by a Labour MP, aiming to ban plastic in wet wipes, will receive its first reading in parliament today.

Fleur Anderson, the member for Putney said today that: “Everyone should bin and not flush wet wipes, but either way they contain plastic which gets in the environment and kills wildlife. My Bill comes in the same week as world leaders are meeting for COP26 and will show that the UK can take serious action and ban plastic from wet wipes made and sold in the UK.”

She also claimed that 90 per cent of the 11 billion wet wipes used in the annually across the UK contain a form of plastic which can enter the food chain and water supply.

She also said that wet wipes cause of 93 per cent of UK sewage blockages.

When asked today about Ms Anderson’s campaign, a spokesperson did not comment on the bill’s specifics but said the government wished to end “the throwaway culture”, and referred to the government’s 15-year environment plan sets out “a commitment to eliminate avoidable plastic waste”.