Wet wipes containing plastic are set to be banned from sale in the UK under legislation expected to be confirmed on Monday.
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay is expected to announce plans to introduce legislation before the summer recess in July following a long-running campaign to ban the products.
The law would make it illegal to sell or supply wet wipes containing plastic in England, with the rest of the UK set to follow by the autumn.
Wet wipes eventually break down into microplastics, which damage ecosystems and contribute to water pollution, and discarded wipes have increasingly littered Britain’s beaches.
Mr Barclay said: “I have been clear that a step change is needed to protect our waterways from pollution.
“The ban builds on a raft of actions already taken to protect our waterways and hold water companies accountable, including accelerating investment, putting water company fines back into the environment and quadrupling the number of inspections of water company sites.”
But Labour said the ban did not go far enough, committing to a “a full ban on the sale, supply and manufacture of plastic wet wipes”.
Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said: “Plastic wet wipes clog up our sewers, kill wildlife and lead to sewage backing up into people’s homes.
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Bring on the soap & water approach to post coital ablutions, possibly in some instances accompanied by cost increases and reductions in time allocations.
