A public campaign over wet wipes blocking sewers has prompted giant paper and wipes manufacturer Kimberly-Clark to introduce what it claims is a more flushable version of toilet wipes for adults.
The new flushable product might go down the toilet, but it doesn't disintegrate, said consumer group Choice, which has waged a campaign against flushable and unflushable wipes.
Consumers are continuing to flush wipes down the toilet, often causing giant blockages of congealed fat and wipes that have been dubbed fatbergs.
Kimberly-Clark, which owns Kleenex Flushable wipes, has also added larger, bolder "Do Not Flush" warnings to its "non-flushable" range.
Sydney Water, while welcoming the introduction of clearer warnings, reminded the public to flush only the "three Ps" down the toilet - paper, pee and poo.
Any kind of wipe, flushable or not, should be put in the bin, says the water utility, which pulls tonnes of wipes out of its water treatment plants across Sydney.
Choice said Kleenex's new product was very likely to block pipes and would result in expensive plumbing bills.
"Kleenex seems to have an obsession with trying to convince people to flush these products, when the fact is they can clog up your pipes and be rough on your wallet," Choice's media spokesperson Tom Godfrey said.
The newly formulated wipes broke down more quickly than the old ones, but not quickly enough, he said.
"Oddly, although the company insisted their old wipes were flushable, they have decided to reformulate the product," Mr Godfrey said.
"Kleenex CleanRipple Flushable Wipes cannot be considered entirely safe to flush."
Experts from Sydney Water said blockages caused by bathroom products had cost the community millions of dollars every year in dealing with the issues these products cause in the wastewater system.
It called on other manufacturers to commit to developing clearer packaging guidelines and products suitable for both customer and urban wastewater systems.
"Sydney Water is working to develop an international standard for flushable products and look forward to having a nationally agreed standard that clearly defines the criteria for what can be flushed and how it should be labelled."
A spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark, which owns Kleenex Flushable wipes, said it was disappointed with Choice's claims about the flushability of its "flushable" wipes.
The newly formulated wipes were made from paper, and were designed to "begin to break up faster", she said.
She said the product met widely accepted "flushability" guidelines, a seven-step testing process. These include testing a wipe's ability to break down and flow through municipal sewer pumps.
The spokeswoman said research showed more than 90 per cent of the material causing blockages was non-flushable materials such as non-flushable baby wipes and non-flushable feminine hygiene products.
Who flushes the unflushable? Illustration: Sydney Water
While consumers are still flushing wipes down the toilet, there has been a reduction following the "Do Not Flush" campaign by Sydney Water.
In the past year, it found:
- A 50 per cent reduction in the proportion of customers who think it's OK to flush wet wipes.
- A 57 per cent reduction in acceptability of flushing baby wipes.
- A drop of 54 per cent in the number of 20-29 year olds (a group that was more likely to flush wipes) who think it's OK to flush wipes.
