The Environment Secretary has confirmed the UK Government will introduce new world-leading legislation to ban wet wipes containing plastic.
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.
Banning them will reduce plastic and microplastic pollution and reduce the volume of microplastics entering wastewater treatment sites when wrongly flushed.
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.
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.”
