Monumental Milestone in the War on Wipes

Announcements, Regulations

Update provided by CASA

Much clearer disposal information for wet wipes is coming to a shelf near you. After years of legislative work on the wipes issue, AB 818 (Bloom) has been signed into law by the Governor. This bill establishes the strongest “Do Not Flush” wipes labeling and public education requirements in the country.

Starting in July 2022, all wet wipes packages are required to include a “Do Not Flush” symbol and warning on each individual package. This is a huge win for consumers, infrastructure, for the environment, and for our sector!

Wastewater agencies across the country have been working to spread the word that only human waste and toilet paper should be flushed for years.

Now, we have another partner in that outreach. The bill calls for wipes manufactures to create and implement a 5-year comprehensive multimedia education and outreach program in the state.

At a minimum, the education and outreach program shall do all the following:

1. Promote consumer awareness and understanding of and compliance with the symbol and label notice requirements. Covered entities shall provide wastewater agencies with the consumer education messaging for the symbol and the label notice, and those agencies may include the messaging as part of their routine communications with customers within their service area.
2. Provide education and outreach in Spanish and English, and;
3. Conduct annual consumer surveys to gauge the effectiveness of their education and awareness campaigns on consumer disposal behavior.

RESOURCES PROVIDED BY CASA FOR USE BY YOUR AGENCY:

• AB 818 Press Release
• Social Media Samples