London’s infamous ‘Wet Wipe Island’ finally cleared of 5 million wipes
Calls for wet wipe ban after five million clog River Thames
- About five million wet wipes have been removed from the infamous "Wet Wipe Island" on the River Thames near Hammersmith Bridge.
- The three-week clean-up was the country's first mass wet wipe removal project of its kind, involving the Port of London Authority, Thames Water, and Thames21.
- Workers employed an efficient "rake and shake" method using excavators to sift through the island, separating wet wipes and other items like towels, scarves, and even false teeth, from natural sediment.
- The island, which was about the size of two tennis courts and weighed 114 tonnes, had changed the river's course and posed a significant threat to aquatic wildlife and the local ecology.
- Organisations involved emphasised the environmental damage caused by flushing plastic-containing wet wipes and expressed support for a proposed government ban on these products.