Scotland joins Wales, Northern Ireland and England in bans, which will come into force between December 2026 and August 2027
Scotland is to ban the sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic from August 11, 2027, under new regulations. The announcement brings Scotland in line with Wales, Northern Ireland and England which are also introducing bans.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya / Unsplash
Wales will be the first to bring a ban into force, as of December 18, 2026. In Northern Ireland, the ban comes into force on May 18, 2027, and in England it starts the following day.
The bans in all four nations have the same scope, intent, definitions and transition period ahead of enforcement. Indeed, the four nations have kept in as close alignment of dates as possible given each separate parliamentary timetable.
Wet wipes containing plastic are a common and persistent source of marine litter, which can break down into microplastics and cause serious harm to the natural environment. In a UK-wide consultation carried out in 2023, more than 93% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with a ban.
The new measures will include some exemptions, such as for medical and industrial uses, and business-to-business sales. Members of the public who require specific wet wipes containing plastic for medical or healthcare reasons will be able to request these from a pharmacy.
Alex Plant, Chief Executive of Scottish Water, says: ‘This ban will help us tackle one of the biggest challenges we face – responding to and clearing around 35,000 blockages every year in our sewers, at a cost of about £10m, largely due to wet wipes wrongly flushed down toilets. Scottish Water’s “Nature Calls” campaign has led the way in making the case for a ban, and encourages everyone to bin wet wipes and stick to the 3Ps: flushing only pee, poo and toilet paper.
‘We are also calling on the UK government for mandatory responsible “do not flush” labelling for all bathroom products that risk being wrongly disposed of to sewers, and an end to misleading environmental claims on packaging to reduce customer confusion and reinforce the correct disposal option. This issue is reserved and the critical next step to reduce blockages further and prevent environmental harm.’
Gillian Martin MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy in the Scottish Parliament, adds: ‘Wet wipes containing plastic are an unnecessary single-use item, for which more environmentally friendly alternatives already exist. As with all single-use items, it is vital they are disposed of correctly, otherwise they become a problematic source of marine litter and a threat to the health of our environment and wildlife.
‘This ban delivers on an important commitment made in our marine litter strategy and builds on previous actions to ban unnecessary single-use plastic items such as plastic-stemmed cotton buds, plastic straws, cutlery and single use vapes.
‘These policies are all proof of the progress we are making towards protecting our environment and creating a more circular economy. In addition, we will continue to call on the UK government to address issues such as misleading claims on product packaging which can lead to incorrect disposal of items such as wet wipes.’
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