Just when you thought it could not get worse, there is a new enemy in Australia’s war on waste. This time, it is the not-so-humble wet-wipe. As part of Plastic Free July, the South Australian Business Chamber corporate member The Hygiene Co wants you to know about this problem AND that there is a solution.
Co-Founder Corey White says that unlike many other forms of waste, industrial and consumer volumes of wet wipe waste can be eliminated.
“Each year, more than 25,000,000kgs of plastic finds its way into landfill from imported wet wipes. This is well over 30 times that of plastic straws. It is time to make a change.
“The irony in importing these wipes is that 75% of the wipe is water. We are paying a fortune and creating more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 every year to basically import water. This amount of CO2 is what we create when we power nearly 2,000 homes for an entire year.
Co-Founder Phil Scardingo says they have targeted the supermarket trolley wipe sector and the fitness gym wipe sector so far as they are heavy users of wet wipes in their cleaning regimes.
“The fitness industry uses 1 billion wipes each year, 96% of these as plastic-based fabric. For healthy gym-goers, does it suit their lifestyle to be using plastic so much?
“We have a locally manufactured compostable solution available today for companies Australia-wide who need bulk wet wipes.”
The South Australian business community is already getting on board and purchasing these locally-made compostable wipes. Foodland Brighton store owner Tim Rugless bought a large volume container to put at the front of his store so customers can wipe trolleys and baskets down as they enter the store.
“We want to make sure that our customers feel protected when they enter. By having the wipes available as they enter the store, it is super easy for them.
“Foodland is all about supporting local so being able to buy a locally-manufactured, plastic-free, TGA-approved product ticked all the boxes for us at Brighton. I know there are many other Foodland stores across the state using this product.”
YMCA South Australia has already switched with Regional Development Manager Craig Hortin advising that providing sustainable and environmentally friendly operational practices is a key focus for their organisation.
“We run multiple large recreation facilities that use a lot of electricity and water to operate and as such we understand our need to be environmentally responsible and source sustainable practices. COVID meant we needed to increase our compliance measures and up our cleaning protocol. Honestly, it became a real concern when people used three, four, five wet wipes each time.
“It took a little bit of time to educate everyone that one wet wipe contains enough disinfectant for one piece of equipment. But we’ve got there, and the staff are rapt that we’re supporting a local company with this compostable product. The staff are our biggest advocates, telling the members all about the compostable wipes now.”
In securing the case for this new consumer product, Corey highlights that our babies are going through 4 billion plastic wipes a year.
“You can tell parents everywhere that we will be manufacturing consumer soft-packs in September 2022. This will save 900 tonnes of carbon in shipping alone, equating to nearly 37,000 Australians having their gas cylinder for their home barbeque, or 110 million smartphones charged.”
“These are significant volumes of waste, and our compostable wipes present a real opportunity for South Australian businesses to reduce their waste and carbon footprints, which are increasingly becoming a supplier requirement for large organisations like those in the supermarket sector.
Phil reminds us that this is also an opportunity to support Australian-made.
“If the pandemic taught us one thing, it is that we need to invest more in our own sovereign manufacturing capability. During times of global uncertainty (of which the pandemic is not the last) we set ourselves up for easier times if we can produce what we need right here.”
