These wipes won’t cause fatbergs

Love the face wipe but don't want to cause yet more plastic pollution? This organic brand might just have the answer

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If you’ve seen some of the truly terrifying pictures of fatbergs in sewers under cities from New York to London, you’ll realise, that a) human beings are pretty disgusting and b) our addiction to the throwaway wet wipe is causing no end of problems. 

Over the last 10 years our love of fuss free, throwaway skincare essentials, from the cotton bud to the face-wipe has gone unchallenged, we haven’t thought BTB – Beyond The Bin. However with face wipes responsible for 93% of fatbergs, we need to tackle how we maintain our lifestyles without drowning in a grey sea of non-biodegradable wet wipes. 

And it’s not just us sewer blockages cost water companies £100m a year to fix.

Natracare has just introduced completely biodegradable wet wipes which have been certified by Water UK as ‘Fine to Flush’, a new test that clarifies what can be flushed away.

The new Natracare Moist Tissues are completely biodegradable and compostable at home. Most face and wet wipes are full of microplastics and don’t break down when flushed down the loo, hence the blockages. Natracare’s wipes are 100% plastic free, compostable and made with natural and organic ingredients.

Susie Hewson, Natracares founder and director comments: “For the longest time, big toilet paper brands have been pedalling products with hidden plastics that claim to be ‘flushable’. We hope Water UK’s new standard and our new organic flushable moist tissue will create more transparency – which will lead to less plastic pollution. The industry said it could never be achieved. We are pleased to have proved them totally wrong.”

Rachel Dyson, who runs Anglian Water’s Keep it Clear Programme, and leads on sewer blockage prevention for the UK water industry, says: “Many people are unaware that conventional moist toilet wipes have not passed water industry testing and should not be flushed. A moist toilet paper that meets UK water industry tests is a real game changer and we hope many other companies will follow this lead. However, baby wipes and other wipes displaying a Do Not Flush logo remain the main type of wipe found in sewer blockages that can lead to flooding.”

“We’re working with organisations such as the Marine Conservation Society and Natracare to raise awareness of the environmental and social issues caused by flushing such waste. We hope this new Fine to Flush specification and biodegradable wet wipe will be an important step forward in the battle against blockages.”

Natracare’s wipes are will be available in Waitrose and online at Ocado from March and will be available through independent health stores around the UK.