Fighting fatbergs

Wet wipes, cotton buds, sanitary products and fats oils and greases all create sewer blockages, known as fatbergs. 

These have a major impact on the environment and contribute to pollution in our rivers and water courses. Thousands of properties suffer sewer flooding every year in the UK leading to costly clean-up bills and increased insurance costs.

Fatbergs are most often caused by items such as wet wipes and sanitary products that are flushed down the toilet, or by leftover cooking fats and oils poured down the kitchen sink. These items stick together and over time they build up and block pipes and drains. Drains and sewers were only ever designed to carry human waste, wastewater and paper from toilets.

Some fatburgs that have been discovered and removed have been enormous and incredibly damaging. One of the biggest was found in Whitechapel, London and was twice the length of two Wembley football pitches, weighing the same as 11 double-decker buses. It took a team of eight, working every day for several weeks, to break down the mass. 

The government ban on plastic wet wipes is a first step on a long road towards getting rid of blockages in our sewers and removing plastic from our waterways.

However, the Government should go further by introducing a new regulatory standard for wet wipes and mandatory ‘do not flush’ labelling on packaging.