Men’s toilets are to get wet wipe bins in latest fight to stop them being flushed and clogging up London’s sewers with fatbergs
- Greater London Assembly wants to introduce sanitary bins to male bathrooms
- Hopes to encourage men to bin, not flush, wet wipes, and incontinence products
- Fatbergs are made up of flushed fat, oil, grease and waste such as wet wipes
- More than 11 billion wet wipes are used in the UK every year, up by a quarter from five years ago – but many people do not know that they can’t be flushed
Men’s public toilets are to get wet wipe bins in the latest move to prevent fatbergs in the capital.
Greater London Assembly members want to introduce sanitary bins to male bathrooms in an attempt to cut down on fatbergs in the city’s sewers.
The plans hope to encourage men to bin rather than flush wet wipes and incontinence products.
Last year, a 130-ton, 250-metre-long (820ft) fatberg blocked up a Victorian tunnel in Whitechapel, east London (pictured). It took three weeks to clear
Fatbergs are blockages made up of flushed fat, oil, grease and other flushed waste such as wet wipes and illegal drugs. They form into huge concrete-like slabs and can be found beneath almost every UK city, growing larger with every flush.
They also include food wrappers and human waste, blocking tunnels – and raising the risk of sewage flooding into homes.
Last year, a 130-ton, 250-metre-long (820ft) fatberg blocked up a Victorian tunnel in Whitechapel, east London. It took three weeks to clear.
The Guardian reports that the plans hope to make people more aware of the damage caused by wet wipes and other materials that cause blockages when they find their way into the sewers.
More than 11 billion wet wipes are used in the UK every year, up by a quarter from five years ago – but many people do not know that they can’t be flushed.
About four billion disposable nappies are used, and sales of unflushable incontinence products, for men as well as women, has gone up by 50 per cent to more than 1bn a year as the population ages.
In most public bathrooms in restaurants, bars or offices, men have nowhere to dispose of such items except down the pan.
Caroline Russell of the Green party, chair of the LGA environment committee, told The Guardian: ‘Public awareness around single-use plastics, in terms of disposable water bottles and coffee cups, is high. But what about other daily products – wet wipes, nappies and period products?
‘We urgently need to educate people not to flush these items down the toilet, and take some practical steps to help the situation.’
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