Draft Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2025 General Committees

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Sir Desmond. I thank the Government for bringing these draft regulations to us today.

As members of the Committee will be aware, the Conservative Government set out their ambition to ban the most problematic plastic waste products in their 2018 resource and waste strategy for England. Action was taken to prohibit the supply of single-use plastic straws, plates and cutlery, plastic-stemmed cotton buds and drinks stirrers. In addition, that Government introduced a successful single-use carrier bag charge policy, which by 2024 had reduced the number of bags given out by the main supermarkets by over 98%.

The resource and waste strategy outlined that to ban products, it must be considered an appropriate action and there must be sustainable, plastic-free alternatives. It was under that premise that in April 2024, the Conservative Government announced their intention to ban wet wipes containing plastic, which were quite rightly identified as a significant contributor to plastic pollution in rivers and oceans, with harmful microplastics entering that environment. I note the Minister’s comments about the impact that that has on the environment and the animals and wildlife therein.

That announcement from the Conservatives was particularly welcome to me as someone who has long called for us to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution in our rivers and seas. In the last Parliament, I sat on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, which shone a spotlight on the scourge of plastic waste through its specific inquiry and report into the matter. It recommended, among other things, the banning of plastic waste exports.

I pay tribute to the Conservative Environment Network, of which I am a member, which has long called for action on plastic pollution in our waters and which was instrumental in helping to shift the dial and lead us to where we are today. With the timing of the election last year, the previous Government did not have the opportunity to lay these regulations. I am pleased that the new Government have brought them before us today. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Putney for her hard and concerted cross-party work in this area.

The regulations make sensible exemptions, including for medical and industrial uses, to ensure that where wet wipes containing plastic are necessary and there are no viable alternatives, they can still be supplied. In a 2022 article for the National Health Executive, Professor Jean-Yves Maillard, professor of pharmaceutical microbiology at Cardiff University, highlighted the medical reasons that plastic is still required in wet wipes. He said that if the plastic, which is loaded with detergents, cleaning agents and in some cases powerful disinfectants, is removed,

“you’re left with a less effective, less useful wet wipe”,

which has

“real-world consequences for patient care and patient safety in healthcare.”

The Government have noted that most manufacturers have already commenced the transition to producing plastic-free wipes. It is important that these regulations do not limit access to plastic wet wipes where they are still required. What assessment has been made of the effect of the regulations on the supply and cost of plastic wet wipes for medical or clinical environments and other settings where plastic wet wipes are still required due to there being no viable alternatives? We should still aim to become plastic-free, even in professional products, but we are not quite there yet. When do the Government anticipate that full transition will be possible? When will effectiveness in the medical, clinical and scientific environments no longer be affected?

I hope that the Minister can provide reassurance on how the enforcement powers will work during the transition period. Will she confirm that the enforcement powers will not be used disproportionately? Will she confirm that the regulations are not intended to prohibit or penalise members of the public who have an existing stock of wet wipes at home and want to use them up? Will the Minister publish a table of enforcement action by councils, to provide transparency on how councils are interpreting and enforcing the regulations?

Given that the regulations have attracted criticism from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, what steps have been taken to address that Committee’s concerns? Although it is right that action is taken to limit unnecessary sources of pollution, we must avoid unintended consequences. I hope the Minister can provide clarification and reassurance.