Flushable wipes are on a roll…literally thanks to a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur who is about to launch what he says is the first-ever flushable wet wipe that sits on a roll and can be dispensed and flushed the same way traditional toilet paper. It can even sit on the same type of dispenser.
 
Set to launch in early 2016, WipeMeWorld flushable moist toilet paper is packaged in an air tight, water resistant package that can be opened and resealed to remove the wipe during bathroom time. The roll-shaped package sits upon a standard toilet paper holder, offering the user improved hygiene over dry paper and easier handling than current flushable wipes.
 
Founder Ronen Cojocaru began working on this concept in 2011 when he started using moist toilet paper on his children and wondered why there wasn’t a wet product available on a roll. He developed a product that not only sits on a roll like toilet paper but is flushable like toilet paper.
 
“There were many (flushable) products packaged in plastic containers but this is a complicated solution,” he says. “By putting a product on a roll and dispensing it like toilet paper, you are requiring no change in a consumer’s behavior. There is no need for another dispenser and it is disposed the same way.”
 
To get to this place, Cojocaru went through several prototypes—nine to be exact. The ninth, which will be ready in January and will be the product the company takes to market, features a rigid closure that allows the product to be tightly sealed after dispensing.
 
This technology comes at a premium but the added expense of WipeMeWorld wipes comes with several of advantages over dry toilet paper. With traditional toilet paper, the bathroom user goes through six to 20 sheets per visit but uses only two to three wet wipes. “This is more hygienic, faster, cleaner, and you are saving on trees and other waste,” Cojocaru says.
 
These attributes are helping the moist toilet paper category grow and gain marketshare. “The younger generation has grown up on wet wipes so when they go to the toilet they already have that behavior,” Cojocaru says. “My vision is in the next five to 10 years, this market is going to grow dramatically. We can already see that it is a growing, growing market. Yes. It is going to be more expensive than traditional toilet paper but the advantages are worth it.”
 
First, however, Cojocaru must bring his product to market, something that should happen early next year. This will be a two-step process. Much of the distribution will be channeled through large multinational paper goods companies who have already signaled they’re interested in the product but WipeMeWorld, which has manufacturing sites in Shenzhen, China, will distribute some limited product itself, mainly in Asia.