In recent times, we are witnessing a sharp increase in the use of nonwoven wet wipes, especially after the Covid-19 breakout. As a result, the global wet wipes market has witnessed unexpected growth in the year 2020. Currently, these wipes are being extensively used as cleaning wipes, disposable absorbents, moist toilet tissues and personal hygiene wipes. Their market demand is expected to grow further in coming years due to the rising awareness towards health and hygiene as well as from the ease in the convenience of their use. At the same time, however, the increased use of wet wipes has also caused some serious environmental and managemental challenges such as clogging of drain lines, malfunctioning sewage pumps and sewer overflows. Even in sewage systems, it takes a huge amount of effort and expense to jet wash these accumulated “fatbergs” from clogged pipelines. Therefore, keeping both the economic and environmental aspects, there is a need to make engineered fibers, which can give products with superior flushability and biodegradability properties.

Birla Purocel EcoFlush (product of Birla Cellulose) is an engineered short-length fiber which is used to produce nonwoven wipes/fabrics that give superior runnability on wet-lace lines, high dispersion in water, and a soft touch feel to the wipes. The uniquely oriented fiber has a length in the range of 6 mm to 25 mm. As a result of the unique morphology and orientation (Figure 1), these fibers provide superior strength for product performance while meeting the flushability norms issued by the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) and the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA). The other characteristics viz., ability to lose fibers when flushed, higher wet to dry tenacity ratio, individual fiber strength to hold short pulp, uniform dispersion in the slurry for wet lying, etc., makes it a perfect material to be utilized in wet wipes.

It delivers superior fiber dispersion and a soft feel when compared with the other fabric made from commercially available cellulosic fiber (Figure 2). Additionally, EcoFlush fibers are characterized by unique morphological features and surface properties which enable these fibers to give enhanced performance and processability.
The Birla Purocel EcoFlush fiber also gives an improved balance of fabric strength characteristics such as web strength (during the production process and use), fiber length, thickness, and durability as compared to the conventionally used parallel aligned fibers. One of the special characteristics is an improved ratio of wet/dry strength; this helps the fabric to achieve higher wet strength (critical for the conversion of fabric to wet wipes) at relatively lower dry strength of the fabric (Figure 3).

Birla Purocel EcoFlush fiber can be made in wide range of fineness and length, thus can be customized as per the customers’ need to cater to all the baskets of the flushable product portfolio.  The comparative studies as described above along with the presented data shows that the unique Birla Purocel EcoFlush product efficiently addresses the problem of sewers and drains blockage currently posed worldwide due to the use of non-flushable or inferior quality of flushable products. This unique technology is offering an alternative which prevents the adverse effect on the environment while efficiently providing the required product to take care of health, hygiene and convenience.


RFA Provides Update on Efforts at WOW
Lara Wyss, president of the Responsible Flushing Alliance, participated in Nonwoven Substrates for More Sustainable Wipes session on the first day of the WOW conference. The presentation focused on RFA’s #FlushSmart campaign, the industry’s first national consumer education campaign on flushability.

In May, RFA was part of NACWA’s Pre-Treatment Workshop held in Nashville, TN. Wyss participated on a panel called “Flushing Awesome: Wipe Labeling and Flushability Progress.” Joining Wyss on the panel was Frank Dick, co-chair of NACWA’s Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Committee and Cynthia Finley, director of Regulatory Affairs for NACWA.

As part of her presentation, Wyss highlighted the consumer survey the RFA did last November to gauge the knowledge and behaviors of Californians around healthy and proper flushing. Some interesting findings from the survey include:

• Nearly 60% of respondents say they have disposed of something non-flushable in the toilet during the past year. (Boo!)
• But 60% of consumers say they do check packaging for see if the product is flushable. (Yay!)
• 69% of consumers say they recall seeing the “Do Not Flush” symbol but when they asked them where, they got a variety of answers from airplane bathrooms to restaurants or to somewhere in Europe.
• Men aged 45 and under as well as parents with children in the house were found to be the most prevalent offenders of practicing unsafe flushing habits.

In July, RFA held a press conference on the west-facing steps of the California State Capitol Building featuring remarks from Assemblymember Richard Bloom, who carried California Assembly Bill 818 to the governor’s desk, as well as California Association of Sanitation Agencies, and National Stewardship Action Council. All four of them coming together represents a critical coming-together of industry, policy, and wastewater to promote real solutions to environmental issues and damaged infrastructure.