3 Mar. 2022: England-based retailer Tesco has announced its new move to scrap all baby wipes containing plastic from March 14. The supermarket stopped using plastic in its own label baby wipes two years ago and the entire range will now be plastic-free. The move is significant as Tesco sells more than 75 million packs, or 4.8 billion individual baby wipes each year.

All branded and own-label wipes in Tesco stores in the UK, bar one, are now plastic-free. Plastic-free wipes include moist toilet tissue and general cleaning wipes. There is only one type of wipe available at Tesco that contains plastic, a pet wipe, which will be plastic-free by the end of the year.

“We have worked hard to remove plastic from our wipes as we know how long they take to break down.” There is no need for wet wipes to contain plastic so from now on we will no longer stock them if they do,” Tesco group quality director Sarah Bradbury, said in a press release.

In addition to being plastic-free, Tesco’s moist toilet tissue wipes are certified and labelled as ‘fine to flush.’ Non-flushable wipes stocked by the supermarket are clearly labelled as ‘do not flush’.

Tesco started to make its own-label wet wipes plastic-free in 2020 and has since been switching to bio-degradable viscose as it breaks down far quicker.