Wet wipes are synonymous with the idea of a quick fix.

They’re used on everything from removing eye makeup to wiping baby's bottoms — but when it comes to plastic waste, they’re the furthest thing from convenient.

Wet wipes contain non-biodegradable plastic — and now it looks like the UK might ban them.

Take Action: Call on Governments to Say 'No' to Single-Use Plastics

The Department for the Environment (Defra) has said that it will continue to work with wet wipe manufacturers and retailers to ensure labelling is clear so people are aware how to dispose of them, and also encourage innovation to remove plastic from the products altogether.

But the BBC reports that in a statement released Monday, the government confirmed that part of its 25-year plan to reduce plastic waste, outlined at the start of the year, includes a pledge to “eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, and that includes single-use products like wet wipes.”

Why do people put wet wipes and cotton buds down the toilet? Pee, poo and paper only. It's not hard to remember. Put it in a bin. *glares*

— Meddlesome Matty (@LIntrepid) May 8, 2018

Wet wipes break down into microplastics that can easily be swallowed by marine life. But they also have a huge environmental impact closer to home: Despite often being marketed as “flushable,” wet wipes are the main cause of local sewer blockages because so many get thrown down the toilet.

Remember London’s largest-ever fatberg that clogged up a sewer in Whitechapel? The giant waste monster was the epitome of ickiness. It weighed more than 130 tonnes, measured more than 250 metres, and was made up of faeces, condoms and, more than anything else, wet wipes (I guess “wipe-berg” isn’t quite as catchy.)

Read More: Over 40 UK Companies Just Signed a Pact to Cut Plastic Pollution

Indeed, wet wipes are behind over 93 percent  of all blockages in British sewers, according to Water UK, the trade body behind all of the country’s water and sewage companies. They cause hundreds of thousands of blockages every year, and cost more than £100 million to remove. But without intervention, the wet wipe industry is expected to grow from a $3 billion international market to $4 billion by 2021.

Five jars of beetroot and 17 tennis balls 🎾 - some of the stranger things we've found down our sewers. But most blockages are caused by flushed wet wipes or grease from cooking.

Today, we took @BBCWalesNews out to show how small things can cause big problems  💩🚽 pic.twitter.com/2izvq3E0RL

— Welsh Water (@DwrCymru) December 12, 2017

In April, a London environmental organisation called Thames 21 found 5,452 wet wipes alongside the River Thames in a part of Hammersmith less than half the size of a tennis court. Campaigners say that they’re changing the shape of British riverbeds.

“Wet wipes are accumulating on the riverbed and affecting the shape of the riverbed,” Kirsten Downer, of Thames 21, told the Guardian earlier this month. “It looks natural but when you get close you can see that these clumps are composed of wet wipes mixed with twigs and mud.”

However, some parents still don’t seem too excited about the ban. Indeed, the internet appears split between people who find wet wipes  indispensable (in all the wrong ways) and those who think the environmental cost is just too high.

We need to ban all non-biodegradable wet wipes, that is it. #BanNonBiodegradableWetWipes#RetweeetPleasehttps://t.co/mPbZuX4x4d

— MrThorston (@GThorston) May 2, 2018

Wet wipes contain non-biodegradable plastic and have been blamed for clogging up rivers and feeding the growth of "fatbergs" in sewers. Not sure a ban is the way forward though. They're highly useful in disaster zones and for stressed parents needing to clean their kids on the go https://t.co/kdL36xN1lb

— Leisha Santorelli (@BBCLeisha) May 8, 2018

My personal view is that government should not only ban wet wipes that contain plastics, but should seek compensation from any company that marketed them ass flushable if they should not have.

— Alasdair Cameron (@ACameronFOE) May 8, 2018

In Britain, there’s been some real change this year in terms of revolutionising how we look at plastic waste.

Read More: Plastic Straws, Stirrers, and Cotton Buds Could Soon Be Banned in England

Microbeads — the tiny microplastics that sneak into oceans from hair and beauty products — were banned just as Britain recovered from its New Year hangover in January. UK supermarket chain Iceland then announced it would become the world’s first mainstream retailer to eliminate plastic packaging entirely from its products by 2023, inspiring more than 200 MPs from seven political parties to demand even more. Now, dozens of companies have signed the UK Plastics Pact, a voluntary pledge to curb plastic pollution by 2025.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has already indicated that plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds could be banned too as the government cracks down on single-use plastic. A consultation on the ban will take place later this year.

In the meantime, please do forget to flush.

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