Draft Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025 Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Sarah Olney
Main Page: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)Department Debates - View all Sarah Olney's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Draft Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025
Sarah Olney Excerpts(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. Thank you for allowing me to respond on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. We have long been calling for a ban on supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic, and we are extremely pleased to see this legislation introduced. We have always been incredibly concerned about the environmental harm caused by single-use wet wipes, which block our sewage network and pollute our waterways with microplastics.
I add my voice to the tributes to my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Putney, for her incredibly hard work over the past four years. She highlighted a particular issue in my constituency: the wet wipe island next to Hammersmith bridge. An estimated 5 million wet wipes have built up on the riverbed; I pay tribute to the selfless volunteers from my constituency who have dedicated their time to helping to clear that appalling build-up, and to the Port of London authority for taking action to remove 180 tonnes of congealed wet wipes. As the hon. Lady mentioned, the build-up changed the course of the River Thames and potentially harmed aquatic wildlife and ecology in the area.
The hon. Lady asked whether anyone had seen a fatberg. One of the UK’s largest fatbergs was excavated from under Kingston hill in my constituency about 10 years ago, so yes, I have seen one up close. I put it on record, by the way, that despite having wet wipe island and the UK’s largest fatberg, my constituency is still one of the most beautiful in London—indeed, in the country—and will remain so, thanks to this statutory instrument.
I am extremely pleased to support the draft regulations, but I call on the Government to do more to tackle microplastic pollution in our waterways and improve labelling to ensure that single-use wet wipes are clearly marked “Do not flush”, as so many hon. Members this evening have highlighted.