The request was announced today in a statement by the association, which, in addition to the immediate ban on wipes, used by ‘almost 30%’ of the continent's population, calls for a legal ban on the discharge into the sewer system of all materials that harm the environment.

Quercus says that disposable wipes are responsible for most sewage system blockages, damage sanitation and wastewater treatment infrastructure, and contribute to marine pollution, endangering wildlife.

The association says that, although practical, wet wipes "pose a serious threat" to the environment when disposed of incorrectly.

It warns that most products marketed as "disposable and biodegradable" contain "synthetic fibres that do not break down easily when flushed down the toilet", do not dissolve like toilet paper, and therefore accumulate in sewage systems, causing blockages.

In a letter sent to all parliamentary groups and to the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, Quercus calls for legislation to end non-biodegradable wet wipes, warning that only "effectively biodegradable" products, which already exist, should be allowed on the market, with the ban being "the necessary lever for change" in the industry.

It also asks the company Águas de Portugal to make an annual estimate of the financial and environmental costs arising from wipes on wastewater treatment plants, and for legislation to be introduced to oblige wipe manufacturers to reimburse the costs of cleaning, transport, and waste treatment, as well as to finance awareness campaigns.

Raising public awareness

Quercus also calls for the creation of a "Biodegradable" label that each producer must display, following a methodology such as that already used in the United Kingdom, for example, always indicating that these products cannot be disposed of in the toilet but must be placed in unsorted waste.

"At the user level, legislation should be introduced to prohibit the disposal of wet wipes in domestic drains, extending the measure to other products such as condoms, medicines, bandages, tampons, cigarette butts, cotton buds and cooking oils," the association also requests, calling for a national awareness campaign on what should not be disposed of in domestic drains.

"It is necessary to raise public awareness of this problem and promote more responsible behaviour," says Quercus in the statement, stressing that the products in question should never be placed in the toilet, even when labelled as ‘disposable and biodegradable’, and that the correct place is always the unsorted waste bin.