MNHQ here: what do you think about manufacturers marketing wipes as 'flushable'?

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We've been contacted by a major utilities company asking Mumsnet to throw its weight behind a campaign it's running on the marketing of 'flushable' wet wipes and 'moist' toilet tissue.

The organisation that's contacted us says that 80% of all sewer blockages are the result of sewer misuse, and that 70% of these blockages are the result of wet wipes. They want manufacturers to stop being able to label wipes as being 'flushable'.

They are going to write to the Advertising Standards Authority complaining that consumers are being misled by the packaging and claims on many of these products. They say consumers are encouraged to believe that these products break down harmlessly when flushed - whereas in truth, they don't break down after flushing and can end up causing blocks, leaks and flooding.

We know from previous conversations about tampons and sanpro that MNers tend to be stalwart defenders of the public sewage system, so we said we'd ask you whether this was a campaign you'd like us to swing behind.

As ever, it would be great to hear what you think.

Thanks
MNHQ

And don't get me started on what he does when any of the dc are ill - best part of half a packet of baby wipes down the loo of clearing up vomit. Honestly, I don't know why he thinks it is acceptable, but he really does chuck it all down the loo.

I too have a had the 'Toilet Wipe Glare' thrown at me by a professional.

That was after a weekend of pooping in a bucket and playing chambermaid to everyone else in the house. It wasn't nice.

I'm very strict about what enters my toilet now.

The nappy/toiletry companies should be fined! Our adjoining neighbors used flushable wet wipes. We had Thames water out three times to clear a blocked drain which lies below our kitchen. Yuck. They swore blind that the didn't flush wipes or even tampons. The problem disappeared as their children grew up.

Your posts have given me palpitations, Pandas.

Yes definitely, we should get behind this. It cost me £100 to get a plumber to sort out my drain after ds had used the 'flushable' wipes.

The Toilet Wipe Glare.

Oh me too, Mistress. We have had countless rows about it. I expect we have neighbour's somewhere who hate us. I have no idea where he got the idea it was ok, but he won't stop.

How do you think he might react to a campaign?

I expect he'd ignore it, sadly. But at least I'd be able to use it to back up my side of the argument

Sorry - I'm trying to get a notion of the best way to approach the topic for 'hard cases' who don't much care if it doesn't immediately inconvenience them. I'm afraid that he sound a bit like that.

What's meant to happen to that 'moist' toilet tissue after being used? A bit of plastic covered in shit, should it go in the bin and wait for weekly emptying? Or maybe it is actually biodegradable, I've never used it.

Yes to campaign for accurate labelling, in BIG LETTERS on the packaging. But thinking through what's meant to happen to shitty results, with eg baby wipes - I guess they go in the bag with disposable nappies, which can then happily ferment away for decades in landfill. Nappy liners, ditto, but I bet millions go into the sewer.

I worry about my shared drain, with upstairs lodgers and nextdoor, none of whom speak fluent English. So not just big letters, but BIG PICTURES with big red crosses, and green ticks to show them going in the bin.

Please.

It was the food waste bit that did it for me.

I have images of him trying to wrestle a chicken carcass into the u bend.

If I got a glare for the crime of using toilet wipes there is a good chance your DH will be drowned in the septic tank when your toilet eventually explodes.

I had no idea that wipes are being marketed as flushable when they aren't. This should be an Advertising Standards/trades descriptions act issue not just a publicity campaign.

If all the MNers on this thread wrote a letter of complaint against the manufacturers who sell flushable wipes that actually block drains, would legal action be taken against them? Can someone find out what the best address for such a complaint would be?

Many non-wet-wipe dry brands of "so called" toilet paper actually have a high plastic content and take years to degrade, so they should also be included.

There should be a recognised logo administered by the water and sewage companies, like the freedom foods logo administered by rspca, that grants "flushable" status to products that genuinely do break down after a short time in the sewage system. It should be illegal to market any product as flushable if it doesn't qualify.

And now I have to re-train my son to bin his wipes. This will take ages and if they had been honest in the first place it wouldn't be necessary.

I'm all for the campaign. I think it's really irresponsible of the manufacturers to advertise them as flushable when they can do so much damage.

Didn't rtft, but would definitely support. Is this not a legal issue, though? They shouldn't be able to say flushable when they clearly aren't.

I suspect there are issues of definition with them ie you can flush them - so what does 'flushable' actually mean to someone in the street as opposed to 'in law'.

I'm very pleased you're doing this, MNHQ. I'm no longer a nappy changer but I have other reasons for using wipes, and it infuriates me that I've had to find other solutions since realising how damaging they are to the sewers. The manufacturers have to take this issue on and sort it out.

The same would likely apply to 'biodegradable' - ie over how long and in what circumstances?

Thankfully he isn't (yet?) that bad, Mistress (although quite bad enough!), so no chicken carcasses or any whole foods.

He will happily empty the remainder of a pot of soup, or leftover spag Bol, though, and thinks nothing of emptying fats/oils either.

It drives me mad.

If there is a problem after they've been flushed then the sewer system needs to be overhauled to allow for modern consumer

And how much are you, as the consumer, willing to pay on your water bills for this? even if it were possible to build a sewerage system that can't be blocked by non-dissolving waste?

I'm not sure upgrading the sewer network would actually achieve much anyway. We had one of the fatbergs near here. Bloody massive.

The country couldn't afford it in short order, Jassy. With some careful husbandry, we can maybe limp along with piecemeal replacement for the next few years. Wipes are not careful husbandry.

Used to work for a Housing Association - these things were the bane of my working life......and then my personal life when the next door neighbour didn't realise that they weren't flushable despite the claims......gggrrr

Donkeys flushing nappies though!

Yuk to "moist" pipe clogging toilet tissue. Let's start up a mumsnet campaign for the introduction of bum showers in every bathroom. I'm serious!!

The country couldn't afford it in short order, Jassy

Well, quite.!