Don’t flush ANY wet wipes down the toilet, water bosses tell the nation after failed ‘flushable’ scheme is quietly scrapped

Used wet wipes should no longer be flushed down the toilet, water industry chiefs have said.

The warning comes as Water UK moved to put an end to the ‘confusion’ surrounding which products were safely disposable by throwing them in the loo.

Environmental experts have repeatedly blamed wet wipes for polluting waterways with plastic and causing so-called ‘fatbergs’ by blocking sewage pipes.

But the water industry had created a certification scheme allowing makers of ‘flushable’ wet wipes to display a logo on packaging that said ‘fine to flush’, also featuring an image of a lavatory seat and a tick.

In a dramatic U-turn, Water UK – the trade association representing the UK’s water and wastewater companies – has scrapped the scheme and will stop giving its stamp of approval to ‘flushable’ wet wipes from the beginning of next month.

Flushable wipes are typically made of natural materials such as paper or natural fibres – with leading brands including Andrex Washlets and Natracare. All products must stop using the ‘fine to flush’ logo from March.

Bosses at Water UK quietly slipped out a statement last year saying the ‘fit to flush’ was coming to an end, but the move hasn’t been reported until now. In its statement. the organisation cited former environment minister Therese Coffey ‘sharing her concerns about the ongoing labelling of single-use wet wipe products causing confusion among consumers’.

Water UK disclosed they were no longer going to allow wipes to be called’ ‘fine to flush’ in a statement released last year It cited the former Environment Secretary Therese Coffey was among critics of claims that some wet wipes are fine to flush while others are not calling the idea that some wipes are flushable ‘causing confusion’.

The Daily Mail has long campaigned against plastic pollution in Britain’s rivers and seas, and led calls to bring in charges on single-use carrier bags, and a ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetics.

The chief executive of anti-litter group Keep Britain Tidy, Allison Ogden-Newton, said:’ Wet wipes are the devil’s work.

‘We’ve had a real problem with the term ‘flushable’ and campaigned against it because it encouraged people to flush them down the loo.

‘If you stand on Hammersmith Bridge [in London] at low tide you will see the river meander through banks of earth but which are in fact mountains of wet wipes.

‘It is costing the public purse a fortune as ultimately we are paying to clean up all this mess.’

Water UK said: ‘We’re not telling everyone to stop using wipes.

‘Water UK is just asking for one simple change of habit: When you use a wet wipe, put it in the bin, not down the loo.’