11.30.-1
Last month, The New York Times ran an article blasting flushable wipes and their role in clogging municipal sewage systems. Adversity is no stranger to flushable wipes. The products have been blamed for septic clogs in New York, London, Oregon and Maine, to name a few; municipalities—including New York City, which is currently examining such a measure—have even tried to ban them.
The problems with all of these claims is that they exaggerate the role flushable wipes have in these clogs. In fact many materials that have no business being flushed—non-flushable wipes like baby wipes, which are clearly marked “do not flush,” feminine hygiene items, paper towels and tissue—are constantly being thrown in the toilet. Many toilet flushers live with the false comfort that something is flushable if it makes it down the loo.
An analysis of septic clogs show that wipes, that have been engineered to disintegrate upon flushing and are labeled as such, comprised just 8% of clogs. The biggest offender, in fact, was non-flushable paper, like paper towels or facial tissue, which represented 47% of the problem. Non-flushable-wipes (that are labeled not to be flushed) comprised about 32%, and the industry has been working hard for more than a decade to reverse this trend.
Today, nearly all baby wipes and other products that have not passed a rigorous testing process, bear a uniform “Do Not Flush” label. Industry leadership continues to work with wastewater management associations to make sure they are comfortable with the testing methods and labeling guidelines and to boost public awareness of flushability. In fact, as we go to press, representatives of the nonwovens and wipes industr are meeting with their counterparts in the wastewater management industry to create a roadmap for the future.
Meanwhile, makers of flushable wipes continue to work to make their products more dispersible, lessening their threat to septic systems. Leader Suominen just announced a new product that can break down three times faster than earlier generation products. At the same time, new lines featuring the latest flushable technology are soon to be popping up around the world.
Despite these efforts, the flushable wipes industry is constantly the subject of blame and the general public still has a long way to go in knowing what should be flushed and what should be thrown out.
Karen McIntyre
Editor
The problems with all of these claims is that they exaggerate the role flushable wipes have in these clogs. In fact many materials that have no business being flushed—non-flushable wipes like baby wipes, which are clearly marked “do not flush,” feminine hygiene items, paper towels and tissue—are constantly being thrown in the toilet. Many toilet flushers live with the false comfort that something is flushable if it makes it down the loo.
An analysis of septic clogs show that wipes, that have been engineered to disintegrate upon flushing and are labeled as such, comprised just 8% of clogs. The biggest offender, in fact, was non-flushable paper, like paper towels or facial tissue, which represented 47% of the problem. Non-flushable-wipes (that are labeled not to be flushed) comprised about 32%, and the industry has been working hard for more than a decade to reverse this trend.
Today, nearly all baby wipes and other products that have not passed a rigorous testing process, bear a uniform “Do Not Flush” label. Industry leadership continues to work with wastewater management associations to make sure they are comfortable with the testing methods and labeling guidelines and to boost public awareness of flushability. In fact, as we go to press, representatives of the nonwovens and wipes industr are meeting with their counterparts in the wastewater management industry to create a roadmap for the future.
Meanwhile, makers of flushable wipes continue to work to make their products more dispersible, lessening their threat to septic systems. Leader Suominen just announced a new product that can break down three times faster than earlier generation products. At the same time, new lines featuring the latest flushable technology are soon to be popping up around the world.
Despite these efforts, the flushable wipes industry is constantly the subject of blame and the general public still has a long way to go in knowing what should be flushed and what should be thrown out.
Karen McIntyre
Editor
