BOOTS has pulled essential products from its shelves across thousands of stores.
The pharmacy giant no longer sells wet wipes that contain plastic.
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It comes after Boots wrote to its suppliers in the UK and Ireland in April 2022, to say that it will remove all wipes that contain plastic fibres.
The products were taken off the retailer’s website at the end of 2022.
Boots now only sells bio-degradable, plant-based alternatives, helping its customers to shop more sustainably in-store too.
Natalie Gourlay, head of environmental, social, and corporate governance at Boots said: “Boots believes that healthy communities need a healthy planet, we have a rich legacy of operating responsibly because we recognise it is the right thing to do.
“Together with our customers,4 we want to inspire positive action and encourage the little switches that make a big difference.”
Around 11billion wet wipes are used in the UK each year and most of those still contain plastic.
Although you’re not supposed to flush them, research has found that they are the cause of nine in 10 sewer blockages across the country.
Boots is currently one of the biggest sellers of wet wipes – selling 800million wipes every year.
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But Boots isn’t the only brand pulling plastic-based wet wipes.
Supermarkets are also stepping up to make their stock more environmentally friendly.
Tesco stopped selling baby wipes containing plastic back in March 2022.
It came after the retailer made its own-brand wipes plastic-free back in 2020.
Tesco’s new environmentally-friendly wet wipes contain plant-based viscose that breaks down quicker in landfill.
Aldi removed the plastic from its own-brand baby wipes – although not all customers were impressed with the change.
Waitrose and Sainsbury’s say their own wipes are 100% plastic-free.
Similarly, Morrisons committed to selling only wet wipes containing plant-based viscose.
It’s not just health and beauty products that are changing – the clamp down on plastics also extends to food.
Plastic plates, cutlery and food containers will be axed from October.
But the move will only apply to takeaways and not those used in shelf-ready pre-packaged food.
Single-use balloon sticks, bowls and trays will also be outlawed.
