The supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic will be banned across the UK.
The move follows a public consultation that saw 95% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the proposals.
Scottish Ministers will introduce regulations by the end of 2024 as part of a UK-wide response. A 18-month transition period will then take place, to give businesses time to prepare.
Following consultation with industry, the ban will not include manufacturing. This is in line with other recent single-use plastic bans. There will be exemptions for wipes containing plastic where there is no viable alternative – such as for medical disinfectant purposes.
Wet wipes containing plastic do not biodegrade naturally. From 2015 to 2020, an average of 20 wet wipes were found per 100m of beach surveyed across the UK according to Defra’s Beach Litter Monitoring Data.
