Are flushable wipes really flushable in New Zealand?

What the testing found

Consumer NZ ran 11 different flushable wipes through an agitation device designed to mimic a wastewater system. Toilet paper began to come apart within minutes. The wipes held together, apart from a small tear here and there. Consumer NZ's advice at the time was that the safest option is to bin these products, and that manufacturers shouldn't be calling them flushable.

Overseas work points the same way. Water New Zealand has cited a Canadian study, Defining Flushability for Sewer Use, in which none of the products tested fully disintegrated and fewer than 10 per cent partially disintegrated.

Labelling has also been tested in court. In Australia, a wipes manufacturer that had claimed its product broke up just like toilet paper was fined $737,000 by the Federal Court after action by the ACCC, and admitted the claim was not true.

Why a wipe doesn't behave like toilet paper

Toilet paper is made from short paper fibres that are meant to separate quickly once they are wet and moving. A wipe has the opposite job. It has to stay strong while soaked in liquid in the packet and while you use it, so it is made to hold together when wet.

Many wipes also contain synthetic fibres such as polyester or polypropylene. Whakatāne District Council points out that despite flushable or biodegradable marketing, most wipes are made of these plastics and stick around for a very long time. Our guide on what wet wipes are made of goes into the materials.

What it costs New Zealand

Water New Zealand has estimated that clearing blockages caused by wipes and other things that shouldn't be flushed costs ratepayers at least $16 million a year, and in 2019 it reported that sewer overflows caused by flushed wipes had risen fivefold since 2015 to 2016.

Local figures fill in the picture. Watercare says it spends about $5.5 million a year cleaning up wastewater overflows caused by these types of blockages in Auckland. In 2023, four Auckland local boards cited a cost of $4 million a year to remove flushable wipes from the city's network and asked for a ban. Tauranga City Council says it removes around two tonnes of wet wipes from its wastewater system every week, and that a single overflow can cost more than $5,000 to investigate and clean up.

Blockages on your side of the boundary are your problem, not the council's. Tauranga notes that private pipe blockages are the cost of the property owner or landlord. There is more on that in our guide to wipes blocking pipes in NZ.

The flushable standard and its symbol

In May 2022 Standards Australia released AS/NZS 5328:2022 Flushable products, developed with water utilities including Water New Zealand. Watercare describes it as a voluntary standard with clear pass or fail criteria. Products have to pass six tests showing they won't harm wastewater networks or treatment, and must attest that they contain no plastic. Products that pass can carry an approved flushable symbol.

A small number of wipes have since passed. 1News reported in 2023 that three wet wipe brands had passed the Australian and New Zealand standard. So the honest position is not that no wipe can ever be flushed, but that the word flushable on its own tells you nothing.

Watercare's rule of thumb is the one to follow: look for the flushable symbol, and if it doesn't have it, don't flush it.

What to do instead

If you use wipes and want to keep using them, keep a small lidded bin next to the toilet and put every wipe in it. That is what Queenstown Lakes, Tauranga and Watercare all recommend for anything that isn't one of the three Ps.

If the bin is the part you don't like, the other option is to stop needing a wipe at all. A toilet paper foam such as Foamie Gentle Toilet Paper Foam goes onto ordinary dry toilet paper, so you get a damp wipe that is still just toilet paper when you flush it. A reusable cloth or a bidet are other routes. We compare them in our wet wipe alternatives guide.

• Flush only pee, poo and toilet paper.
• Bin any wipe without the AS/NZS 5328 flushable symbol, even if the pack says flushable.
• Keep a bin with a lid beside the toilet so binning is easy.
• Don't pour fats or oils down the sink, because they combine with wipes in pipes.

Questions people ask