I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to prohibit the manufacture and sale of wet wipes containing plastic; and for connected purposes.
I thank the Bill’s sponsors, many of whom are here today, and the many MPs from all parties who have shown their support for it. I also thank the Marine Conservation Society, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Thames21, the Green Alliance, Water UK and my water company, Thames Water, for their support for the Bill and for the ongoing campaign.
This is a Bill that everyone agrees with, from constituents to conservation organisations, water companies, MPs from all parties and the industry. The UK Cleaning Products Industry Association believes that plastic-free options are the right way for the industry to go. We were promised that by the Government in 2018, when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it would target plastic-containing wet wipes in its bid to eliminate all avoidable single-use plastic within 25 years. A DEFRA spokesperson at the time said:
“As part of our 25-year environment plan, we have pledged to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, and that includes single-use products like wet wipes.”
But where is that ban? I hope that my Bill gives the Department the nudge.
I welcome the Government’s amendment to the Environment Bill to introduce additional charges on single-use plastics, but that just will not wash—pardon the pun. Hygienic wipes are a single-use plastic, but subjecting them to additional charges will only hit the pockets of families, instead of making the profit-making polluters pay. I welcome the Secretary of State’s promise this morning of a consultation on whether to restrict the materials used in wet wipes, but I hope that the consultation does not kick the issue into the long grass. As Her Majesty the Queen said about COP26, we need actions, not words, and this is an example of such action.
To be clear, I am not talking about banning wet wipes; I am talking about banning the use of plastic in wet wipes. I have spoken to so many MPs who have picked up wet wipes from their rivers and coastlines. They have seen the scale of the problem at first hand and want more action. In this week of COP26, we are looking at the big picture of climate change and biodiversity, yet that picture is made up of many individual, bold actions. If our global house is on fire, we will need many buckets of water to put it out, and here is one of them. I will outline the scale of the problem; what the problem is with plastic; whether a ban is possible; and what else needs to be done.
First, on the scale, as a mother of four children, I have used a lot of wet wipes, and I completely understand the pressures that parents are under and how useful wet wipes are. I know that parents also want to do the right thing for the environment. Wet wipes have made life easier for millions of people and families. The market is worth $3.7 billion globally and growing rapidly, especially because of covid. In 2019, an astonishing 11 billion wet wipes were used in the UK—163 for every single person— and that was before the pandemic. We have seen a huge surge in the use of wet wipes and hygiene products since then. Between 2005 and 2020, the great British beach clean has seen an increase in wet wipes found per 100 metre stretch of beach from 1.7 to 18. The scale is increasing enormously.