Forum Topic

Plastic Wet Wipes Ban:  Fleur Anderson MP

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wet-wipe-island-thames-london-cleared-hammersmith-bridge-b2824711.htmlAfter the three weeks' of removal of 114 tonnes of rubbish from the Thames which was changing the course of the river and which included approximately five million wet wipes which should never have been flushed but should be binned in the first place it is good to see that this ban on wet wipes containing plastic is progressing through Parliament even though it appears that even those which don't contain plastic are still not suitable to be flushed as they block the drains (just as tissue that isn't toilet tissue does).The charity Thames 21 which organises events on the river Thames and its tributaries welcomes Fleur Anderson MPs bill as a step to stop this unnecessary blight and danger to the wildlife on the Thames.Thames 21's events are here:https://www.thames21.org.uk/events/

Philippa Bond ● 8d6 Comments

In the real world most people are unaware of how harmful flushing these things are.Although the problem they cause in our stretch of the Thames is hopefully over thanks to the super sewer and the clearing of wet wipe island, other rivers and waterways would be blighted by these things if this legislation hadn't been introduced.

Peter Higgins ● 3h

Ms Bond'Big business also needs to be held to account.'Or individuals should use their own agency and not buy them or at least put them in with their other household rubbish for collection by the council refuse disposal teams.BTW how is it they end up in the Thames ?As I assume they are disposed of in the lavatory, is toilet waste being discharged directly into the river ?I thought the 'super sewer' was going to stop all of this.

John Hawkes ● 8h

I think you'll find that like any other MP she has plenty of other interests.  It takes a long time to get a Bill through Parliament and if you had read or taken an interest in the first post on here you would have read how devastating and disgusting the tonnes of wet wipes that have created an island diverting the flow of the Thames is.We have a bio-diversity crisis in the UK:https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/our-impact/green-and-blue-futuresDespite huge advertisements on vans and lorries which it is very difficult to miss there are still people who prefer not to understand what they don't want to know.Big business also needs to be held to account.

Philippa Bond ● 1d

Ms Bond'The water companies say only pee, poo and toilet paper should be flushed'.TMI 🤮🫢Has our MP nothing more serious to focus on ?Like a dying economy, uncontrolled illegal immigration, mounting knife crime and shoplifting or even perhaps mounting a coup to rid the country of a useless PM !

John Hawkes ● 1d

Lets hope that they can also persuade all users of unflushable items which includes non-toilet paper tissues to bin them rather than flush them.  The water companies say only pee, poo and toilet paper should be flushed but it seems many people still find this too complicated!

Philippa Bond ● 4d

The interesting thing about this very welcome move is that major retailers had long stopped stocking this product. The prospect of a ban was enough to get them to change their policy. The lesson is perhaps that the government doesn't necessarily need to go through the process of introducing laws to ban stuff but rather they could nudge suppliers away from harmful products by telling them that a ban is coming if they keep selling them.

Peter Higgins ● 4d