New Michigan law bans the label “flushable” on most toilet tissues

LANSING, MI — They are the bane of wastewater treatment operators around the world.

Toilet tissues known to clog sewer systems can no longer be labeled “flushable” in Michigan unless they meet certain requirements following the passage of a new state law.

Law 43 of 2024 prohibits manufacturers from marketing most wipes as “flushable.” Instead, the packaging must include the statement “Do not flush down the toilet” and a symbol discouraging people from throwing the wipes down the toilet.

The law applies to all “pre-moistened nonwoven disposable wipes” that “consist entirely or partially of fibres of petrochemical origin” and are “likely to be used in a bathroom and pose a significant risk of being flushed down”.

Violations may be punished with a fine.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the bill on May 22.

Public works developers in the state of Michigan have long called for such a requirement, arguing that toilet tissues marketed as “flushable” are actually the exact opposite.

Because they do not dissolve when flushed like toilet paper, wet wipes clog sieves and pumps in wastewater treatment systems and cause sewage backups. The disgusting masses of wet wipes, fats, oils, grease and solids are also called “fatbergs”.

In 2018, a huge sewer blockage in Ann Arbor caused an overflow into the Huron River. In Macomb County, removing a 100-foot-tall fatberg from the sewer system cost $100,000.

The massive fatberg prompted Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller to sue several wet wipe manufacturers to force a label change.

The manufacturers reject the accusation that “flushable” wipes are not flushable and point to industry studies which show that the blockages are caused by “non-flushable” variants such as diaper and facial wipes.

However, independent studies have cast doubt on the “flushability” of “flushable” wipes. A 2019 study conducted by researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University who examined “flushable” wipes found that “not a single wipe fell apart or dispersed safely in the sewage system test.”

Wes Fisher, a spokesman for the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), said flushable wipes in their current packaging already meet Michigan’s new definition.

“Basically, the definition of the covered product (Michigan) is a definition of a ‘non-flushable’ wipe,” Fisher said.

“None of the products on the shelves that are ‘flushable’ should be marketed as baby or diaper wipes and none should contain plastic fibers,” he said.

In other words, even if the state law goes into effect next spring, consumers will likely still find “flushable” wipes on the shelves.

“It would have no impact on the sale of products currently labeled ‘flushable’ unless there was a product on the market that did not meet those standards,” Fisher said.

Michigan’s law follows similar labeling laws in Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois and Colorado.

A federal law that creates national standards for “do not flush down the toilet” labeling of wet wipes, the WIPPES Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives this summer.

A version of the Michigan bill was introduced in 2018 but failed to pass the Republican-dominated legislature.

According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), Oakland County has had to respond to clogged machines at local wastewater pumping stations caused by cleaning wipes 474 times over the past six years.

According to the agency, wipes can also damage private sewage systems.

“More honest labeling of these products should help people understand the problems they pose to our wastewater plant operators and septic tank users,” says Phil Argiroff, director of water resources at EGLE.

“They are not truly flushable and never have been. We are glad that this problem is being addressed.”

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