There is a movement to urge the suspension of wet wipes production and sales in Europe, including the UK
Currently, there is an environment campaign in Europe to stop selling plastic wet wipes. It is the same movement in Korea
There is a lot of recognition among the public that "wet wipes are pulp," but in fact, most of them are plastic
The raw material for wet wipes is mostly plastic, one of the most common items among plastic waste that pollutes rivers and beaches. It destroys the natural habitats of birds, fish, and other animals, turns into microplastics and enters the food chain of animals and humans. Eventually, it remains in important organs of the human body and threatens health.
Nevertheless, most consumers often mistakenly think wet wipes are natural pulp. In fact, according to data surveyed 636 consumers in their 20s and older last year by the Korean Consumer Citizens' Association, 43.4% of the respondents thought wet wipes was a pulp from trees. 21.7% of the respondents said it was fiber.
Most wet wipes are made of polyester, a plastic chemical fiber. Polyester is a non-decomposable material used as a raw material for straws, beverage barrels, and films. Therefore, wet wipes should be thrown away as general waste, not recycled. Because it is plastic chemical fiber, wet wipes also take hundreds of years to decompose and disappear from nature.
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| Whales of Antarctica and the Arctic |
What is polyester? The main culprit that kills the Arctic Ocean
Most of the microplastics accumulated below the Arctic sea level were analyzed to be synthetic fibers. In addition, seven out of ten were found to be polyester and similar fibers. A team of researchers from the Canadian Marine Conservation Association took marine geological surveys four times a year in 2016 to investigate the distribution of microplastics in seawater of 3 to 8 meters below sea level at 71 survey points in Europe and North America. The research team also investigated the distribution of microplastics by layer up to a depth of 1,015m below sea level at six points in the Boffert Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean northeast of Alaska.
Microplastic in the Arctic Ocean
As a result of the analysis, an average of 40 microplastics per 1 m2 were detected in Arctic seawater. Among them, synthetic fibers accounted for 92.3%, of which polyester accounted for the largest portion (73.3%). Polyester, also called "poly" for short, is a plastic bottled water-like PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Durability is as excellent as nylon and much more elastic, so it is widely used as a fiber to make shirts and blouses.
Campaigns prohibiting the use of plastic wet wipes such as Scotland
Water-UK, a major British water and sewage association, believes that 93% of the reasons for the blockage of British sewers are wet wipes, including the "Patberg" problem and microplastic problem. Patberg is a term referring to a lump of dirt that is entangled with oil just thrown into the sewer and wet wipes that do not melt in the toilet. Scottish Water, a Scottish waterworks company, launched a campaign in February to ban the use and production of wet wipes containing plastic.
"90% of wet wipes thrown away annually contain plastic," said Douglas Millican, CEO of Scottishwater. "All wet wipes containing plastic should be banned altogether."
Tesco, a British supermarket, has become the UK's first franchise supermarket to stop selling and producing plastic wet wipes. Tesco is the UK's largest logistics supplier, selling about 75 million wet wipes annually. Tesco has stopped producing wet wipes since March. "We will no longer create related products in the future because wet wipes do not need to contain plastic," a Tesco spokesman told The Times.
How about in Korea?
Restrictions on the use of plastic wet wipes are gradually underway in Korea. Wet wipes are produced in Korea by more than 1.29 million tons. In other words, each household uses about 60kg a year. A Korean expert said, "Wet wipes are like just throwing trash into the sea if they are not properly separated and discharged. Regulations on wet wipes-related bills are also needed, and it is important for consumers to first have the concept of wet wipes being plastic, he argued.
Hansol Paper, Korea's largest paper company, is also developing and selling plastic-free wet wipes. It is characterized by the use of natural pulp and plant-derived rayon fabrics to prevent microplastics from occurring. It was judged not to be detected in a microplastic analysis test conducted by the Korea Institute for Testing (KOTITI).
Korea needs to wake up, too!
According to a report on the impact of Korean plastic waste on marine animals conducted by the Department of Zoology at Cambridge University in the UK, plastics flowing into the sea kill 5,000 seabirds and 500 marine mammals every year.
It's time to realize that the environmental problems caused by this indifferent behavior are enormous, although we only use a few wet wipes at a time.
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