EDANA statement on the four UK Nations’ response to the consultation to ban plastic in certain wet wipes

EDANA is the leading global trade association for the nonwovens industry, which includes wet wipes. They represent several wet wipes manufacturers operating in the UK including Essity, Kimberly-Clark, Nice-Pak, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, and Rockline. As part of their work in the UK, they have a UK Working Group that is closely following wet wipes policies and other issues in the UK. Gloria Jaconelli, EDANA’s Communication and PR Director, shared the following statement on behalf of the group: 

“Reducing plastic in the environment is an extremely important goal and this needs to be done whilst also ensuring that parents, carers, businesses, and the NHS can continue to make use of the valuable functions that wet wipes provide regarding hygiene, anti-viral qualities post-COVID-19, helping with care, parenting, and industrial processes.

Reducing plastic also needs to be done in a way that achieves its environmental objective while avoiding unnecessary UK manufacturing job losses in communities across the UK, which in turn could lead to loss of investment, competitiveness, and innovation.

In recent years, the UK wet wipes industry has made considerable progress in reducing plastic in consumer wipes, and over half of consumer wet wipes on the market in the UK today are already plastic-free. The four Governments in the UK have taken a considered approach and the proposals set out will build on these efforts. We look forward to working with the four Governments on the implementation and next steps for plastic-free consumer wet wipes in the UK. In the meantime, we welcome the fact that the proposals enable the continued use of the vital functions that wet wipes provide and will allow the industry to continue to innovate and operate without unnecessary job losses and investment in the UK market. 

Building on the major steps that have already been taken towards this, EDANA member companies operating in the UK will move forward to deliver plastic-free consumer wet wipes in compliance with any new Government regulations and in line with the timelines proposed.”