The Welsh government has announced a ban on plastic wet wipes. The new regulation will come into force next year [December 2026], giving manufacturers and retailers an 18-month transition period.
Wet wipes containing plastic join a list of other single-use items already prohibited in Wales under the Environmental Protection (Single Use Plastics) Act, passed in 2023, including plastic straws and cutlery, plastic-stemmed cotton buds, takeaway cups, lids and food containers and plastic carrier bags.
Unlike these other products, wet wipes typically enter the environment not through littering but through inappropriate disposal into the sewerage system. Research by Water UK – the trade association for the water industry – found that 22 percent of people flush wet wipes down the loo (despite 88 percent knowing they should be binned rather than flushed), where they can cause sewer blockages and find their way into our rivers and seas as a result of storm overflows.
A 5-year nationwide monitoring project [UK-wide ban on wet wipes containing plastic to be put into law - GOV.UK] found an average of 20 wet wipes per 100m of beach. “There should be no place for wet wipes amongst the pebbles and the sand and the seaweed on our beautiful Welsh coastline,” said deputy first minister of Wales Huw Irranca-Davies, announcing the ban last week [June 17, 2025].
The environmental pollution caused by wet wipes containing plastic goes beyond the visual. It’s been shown that faecal bacteria bind more effectively to the plastic fibres in wet wipes than they do to naturally occurring materials, creating a health risk for those who come into contact with them.
What’s more, the nature of their construction allows plastic wet wipes to persist in the environment for a long time (one study estimates 100 years). They eventually break down into tiny particles – microplastics – which cause harm to aquatic species through ingestion as well as by leaching polluting chemicals into the water. The effects of microplastics on human health are not yet known, though some research suggests they could affect the immune system and induce reproductive and developmental toxicity.
It's worth noting the Welsh ban relates solely to consumer use; it exempts medical-grade wet wipes and does not extend to business-to-business sale or supply. Does the legislation go far enough?
Greenpeace doesn’t think so. “Bans on specific products – whether they are wet wipes or plastic straws – are a very inefficient way to stem the tide of plastic pollution,” says Laura Burley, plastics campaign lead at Greenpeace UK. “This initiative will hopefully prevent many wipes clogging waterways or ending up in the sea, but the piecemeal approach is a distraction from the urgent need to phase out single-use plastic entirely.”
The Rivers Trust believes the problem with wet wipes goes beyond plastic. Its position statement reads: Plastic-free alternatives are not the simple solution to this problem. They are still designed not to break down easily, and therefore will still cause blockages in the sewerage system and result in sewage spills into rivers. The only positive aspect to plastic-free alternatives in such a case is that they do not introduce microplastics into the environment.
The Trust also points out that while we consumers need to do our bit – ensuring that only the ‘three Ps’ – pee, poo and paper – go into our toilets – water companies must invest further in sewerage infrastructure relying less on sewage overflows and installing more screens to prevent wet wipes entering the environment.
All four nations announced an intention to ban plastic-containing wet wipes following a consultation in 2023. Wales is – so far – the only one to have implemented it. It’s a start.
Top image: wet wipes. Credit: Getty
More stories about the environment
