Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025.

My Lords, these draft regulations were laid before the House on 16 September. I welcome the chance to set out the action that this Government and the devolved Governments are taking to ban the supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic right across the UK.

The Government are committed to bringing forward root and branch reform of the water system to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and to restore trust and accountability. A key part of this is enabling pre-pipe drainage and wastewater solutions, including better management of our rainwater and preventing pollutants entering the sewerage network and our waterways. Banning wet wipes containing plastic is integral to this ambition.

Wet wipes containing plastic are a growing source of plastic pollution. They are often found in our natural environment, including in waterways and on our beaches. They break down into smaller pieces when in the water, contributing to microplastic pollution, which may be harmful to human and animal health. Banning them will reduce plastic and microplastic pollution as well as the volume of microplastics entering wastewater treatment sites when wrongly flushed. This is part of a wider commitment to encourage more sustainable behaviour around the consumption of single-use plastic. Ultimately, we want to encourage a shift towards reusable and/or plastic-free alternatives. In our 2023 public consultation, 95% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposed ban on wet wipes containing plastic.

Banning wet wipes containing plastic is part of a wider commitment to encourage more sustainable behaviours around the consumption of single-use plastic. The Government recognise the scale and impact of plastic pollution on the environment and are focused on preventing and reducing plastic and other litter entering our environment. We are committed to moving to a circular economy for plastics; this is a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers and nature thrives. We will publish the first-ever circular economy strategy for England in the coming months.

The UK is leading the way by banning the supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic. This is a huge step forward in the right direction. We encourage other nations to consider banning these products. However, there may be legitimate reasons why some countries continue to allow the supply and sale of these products. If we ban the manufacture and export of wet wipes containing plastic, businesses in other countries will likely continue to import wet wipes containing plastic from countries with poorer environmental standards, meaning that UK wet wipe manufacturers will become less competitive in international markets for little or no environmental benefit. By allowing manufacturers to continue to export these products, we will ensure that these businesses remain viable and continue to develop sustainable alternatives to wet wipes containing plastic. However, we will consider banning manufacture once the ban on supply and sale has come into force.

We have been working closely across the UK to agree a joined-up approach to the proposed ban and to agree a UK-wide government response. We want to deliver a ban that is sensible and effective, while minimising the negative impacts it might have on businesses and individuals reliant on such products. This instrument provides for an 18-month transition period before the ban comes into force in spring 2027. This is intended to mitigate the economic impacts of the ban, including potential job losses, and the risk of excess stocks of wet wipes containing plastic being sent to landfill or incinerated.

We acknowledge that, for some uses, plastic-free alternatives are either unsuitable or unavailable. On this basis, we will provide a medical and business-to-business exemption. Our policy on exemptions will ensure that individuals and businesses who have a genuine need for wet wipes containing plastic can access them until there is a viable alternative. We will review the scope of the exemptions periodically.

Trading standards or equivalent enforcement officers within local authorities will enforce the ban using a reactive, intelligence-led model. The Government will soon publish guidance to make clear the scope and details of the regulations. This will assist businesses and regulators in understanding the changes brought in by this legislation and help ensure compliance.

I take this opportunity to state that wet wipes should be binned, not flushed, regardless of whether they are plastic or plastic-free. When wrongly flushed, these products contribute to sewer blockages, which cause environmental harm, including pollution incidents and sewer flooding. The Government are supportive of campaigns that encourage the correct disposal of wet wipes, including Water UK’s Bin the Wipe campaign, and of industry action and innovation in this space.

In conclusion, I emphasise that a ban on the supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic is necessary to reduce plastic and microplastic pollution, particularly in our waters.

I thank the Minister for introducing this instrument proposing the ban on the supply and sale of wet wipes. There is no doubt that there is a significant and ongoing problem with wet wipes, and I agree that urgent action is needed to ban the sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic fibres. These regulations on banning wet wipes which contain plastic allow sensible exemptions, including for medical and industrial uses, to ensure that wet wipes containing plastic can still be supplied when necessary and where there are no viable alternatives.

Nevertheless, banning plastic wet wipes will go some way to helping reduce marine litter, decrease pollution and support progress towards a zero-waste economy. Manufacturers must be called to account and stop labelling wet wipes as flushable or disposable. They must be improved with clear and precise labelling, because misleading labelling makes misleading claims and causes confusion with the general public—ultimately, we see blockages in sewers, flooding and environmental damage triggering storm overflows, as well as harm to marine and animal health. It is imperative that action is taken to reduce the amount of microplastics entering our waterways and destabilising our marine ecosystems. Labelling is non-negotiable. It has to change, with clear labelling saying: “Do not flush”.

Further, I would like to see His Majesty’s Government bring forward legislation to ban plastic wet wipes earlier, in 2026. The Government say they are committed to tackling plastic pollution internationally, but they still allow manufacturers to export wet wipes containing plastic and imports of the same. It seems at odds with Defra’s claim that the Government are taking steps internationally to tackle plastic pollution. When do His Majesty’s Government expect a full transition where medical needs are no longer affected and wet wipes across the board no longer contain plastic but are urgently phased out? I look forward to the Minister’s response.

I am delighted to see these regulations, but I agree with my noble friend Lady Redfern that it is sad to see that they will not come into effect until May 2027 at the earliest. It has been a while since the original consultation happened. To give a bit of history, when I introduced the consultation, we were chided for not getting on with it and asked why we needed another consultation. The reality is that the law required one. Admittedly, the response to the consultation given on 22 April 2024 said that there would be an 18-month transition period from when the legislation happened, but it was expected at the time that the legislation would come in before the end of 2024. Given that manufacturers have known since before 2023 that both the previous Government and the current Government when they were in opposition were minded to ban these wet wipes as quickly as possible, why are we not seeing this come into effect until 2027?

My noble friend Lady Redfern referred to medical exemptions. I am conscious that there will be detailed explanations of why particular kinds of machinery need them, business-to-business exemptions and some other characteristics, but the NHS continually relies on plastic and there seems to be very little incentive for the NHS to get off it. We need to consider disincentives for the NHS to continue its use of this multitude of products—wet wipes being one—where it seems to get an exemption time after time. Instead, we should consider a further levy on these products to incentivise take-up of and research into other products to do the jobs they are designed to do.

For what it is worth, I disagree with the RPC being dismissive about why Parliament is not being asked to exempt small businesses. It is absolutely right that we are not; there is absolutely no reason for these products to be in circulation, apart from what the Minister has already explained about some technical exemptions being required at the moment. I would be grateful if she would help me understand why—I am not criticising; I know there is a busy legislative timetable—recognising that notice had been well and truly given to manufacturers, we are not banning them until May 2027, in effect. Otherwise, I am supportive.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her clear introduction to this SI. I join the noble Baronesses, Lady Redfern and Lady Coffey, in expressing disappointment about the slow pace at which this measure is being brought in; of course, Wales is ahead of us. I also join them in welcoming what is, I am afraid, a modest step forward.

It is worth noting that, as the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, said, this is what the previous Government were planning to do anyway. It is disappointing that this new Government are not going any further. We had a Government who came in promising change and environmental measures; we might have expected to be going further than this statutory instrument is going now. We have to think about where we are now. We are all aware of the island that appeared on Google Earth and was, significantly, the result of wet wipes. I have seen different figures but at least two-thirds—perhaps more—of the wet wipes being sold now do not contain plastic. This is not going to solve the sewage problem; that is terribly clear.

What does that sewage problem mean? It is not just about things that happen in London and get lots of coverage. In September, the BBC reported that Northumbrian Water was finding under its coverage areas that were severely affected by sewer flooding. Effluent was being pushed back up through sinks, showers and toilets. One of the staff members dealing with the people affected spoke about how this really impacted on people’s lives and well-being. Wet wipes are a serious problem—not just a financial problem or an environmental problem but a problem in people’s lives.

The noble Baroness, Lady Redfern, referred to the fact that terms such as “biodegradable” and “compostable” are used inappropriately by manufacturers. If you look at the packaging, you see “99% water”, “plant-based” or a lovely symbol of two hands cradling the earth. That may not be illegal, but we have to ask: how do we get the packaging right so that people understand that they should never go in the toilet? I note that, here in your Lordships’ House—at least in some of the facilities I have been in—there are clear labels saying, “This is a problem, please don’t do it”. If the message is not getting through in the Houses of Parliament, it is perhaps not surprising that it is not getting through in the rest of the country. There is real concern that, as this statutory instrument comes into effect and people hear, “Oh, it’s all right. Isn’t it good that they’ve banned plastic?”, people are more likely to feel that they are able to flush these items.

I note that the Minister spent some time trying to justify our continuing to manufacture wet wipes containing plastic, even though we are planning to ban them. I am afraid that does not really satisfy me. The Minister recently answered a Written Question from me on pesticides that we are manufacturing in the UK and that are illegal for use here but which we are still exporting. Surely we should be worrying about plastic fibres and all the damage they are doing wherever they are put in the world, with the acknowledgement that some of them may well come back to us one way or another. I note, for example, a recent interesting study that found that nanoplastics and microplastics were in radishes growing in the ground. Think about our imported food.