Whether you use them to remove your make-up, freshen up after a long journey, or to clean sticky fingers, it’s safe to say that wet wipes can come in incredibly handy. If we each flush one wipe down the loo every day — whether it’s to take off our make-up, or clean our baby’s bum — these will soon add up over the days, months and years. But what happens once you’ve used your wipe? It’s often convenient to dispose of wipes down the toilet; our sewers are struggling to cope and an increasing amount are being flushed into our oceans. The Marine Conservation Society has reported a 400 per cent increase in wet wipes found along coastline in the last decade, and it is becoming apparent that this is an issue that will only get worse, unless we start to take action.
Although many packets state that the wipes are biodegradable, scientists have challenged this, explaining that they still take a long time to degrade and can cause major environmental concerns. Most wet wipes are made from polyester and are woven together with cotton, meaning they do not disintegrate in water, or when they’re flushed down the toilet, for example. Consequently, they can cause blockages in household pipes which can lead to leaks, and can collect in large numbers within sewers. This is a particularly serious problem if the wipes come into contact with oil or other fats, which can be discarded down the drain after cooking. When the fats and wet wipes combine, they form large lumps, known as ‘fatbergs’, which block drains and need to be carefully removed by experts. Fatbergs have become a serious problem in London, due to ageing Victorian pipes and the increasing use of disposable wipes.