Published: Mar. 25, 2024 at 2:33 PM EDT|Updated: Mar. 25, 2024 at 3:48 PM EDT
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Water System says its legal victory over wipes manufacturers and retailers will benefit the wastewater industry, the environment and consumers.
The outcome ensures that by mid-2025, nearly all flushable wipes available to customers across the country “will truly be flushable” and that packaging for all non-flushable wipes “will clearly indicate they should not be flushed,” water system spokesman Mika Saia.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel approved four settlements on March 8 with the final six defendants in the lawsuit. Those defendants were Costco, CVS, Target, Walmart, Walgreens and Proctor & Gamble, Saia said.
“When we filed this suit, only one brand of wipes were actually flushable and no product packaging offered disposal instructions that were clearly visible,” Charleston Water System CEO Mark Cline said. “We’ve won a very significant battle, as wipes have been public enemy number one for the entire wastewater industry since they were invented.”
The Charleston Water System brought suit in January 2021 against major U.S. companies seeking injunctive relief to remedy costly and ongoing damage to sewer systems and treatment facilities. They blamed the problem in significant part to the inability of allegedly “flushable” wipes to break down, often clogging wastewater infrastructure and causing sewer overflows that damage the environment.
“We knew this litigation would be tough and that the stakes were high for these international corporations, so we’re extremely pleased with the skilled work of our counsel,” Cline said. “These settlements bring significant benefits to wastewater utilities nationwide and their customers, while reinforcing these company’s commitments to being good corporate and environmental stewards. It’s a major step forward for us and the whole country in that respect.”
A release from the Charleston Water System states the settlements require the defendants to meet an international flushability standard supported by the wastewater industry, with two years of confirmatory performance testing, and significant non-flushable wipes labeling enhancements.
Together, these settlements cover products representing an outsized share of the flushable-wipes market and will help reduce the accumulation of wipes in sewage systems, the expenses incurred to address wipes-related clogs, and the time-consuming and costly preventive measures necessary to mitigate future clogging, the release states.
“The final battle in the wastewater industry’s war against wipes is still to come and that involves changing human behavior,” Cline said. “We hope consumers will follow the clear instructions on the packaging. If so, customer sewer costs would go down and the vast majority of sewer overflows nationwide would be eliminated, making our environment the big winner.”
The settlements will also provide economic benefits to utility customers, benefits to consumers in the form of product improvements and enhanced labeling, and benefits to the public by reducing the likelihood of residential plumbing clogs, Saia said.
Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures Cottonelle Flushable Wipes as well as non-flushable wipe products previously settled and its products already comply with the suit’s requirements, Saia said. The additional settlements parallels similar benefits secured by the Charleston Water System in a first-of-its-kind settlement with Kimberly-Clark that Gergel approved in January 2022.
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