Nearly two decades after disposable wipes came to prominence on store shelves and in consumers’ homes, manufacturers are looking to conquer a new frontier—flushable wipes or moist toilet tissue paper­­—a category that has the potential to grow about 6% annually in the next couple of years.

This growth will come in the face of adversity, mainly from the wastewater community, which has continuously blamed wipes on pipe clogs and other septic troubles, despite evidence that wipes labeled as flushable contribute very little, just 8%, to blocked pipes. In fact, an analysis of the clogs causing these problems has shown the other products like non-flushable paper, feminine hygiene items and wipes, are the main culprits (see chart on page 24).

“Flushable wipes is a strong, growing category and the work in the category should be appreciated,” says David Deising, vice president of Rockline’s North American wipes retail business. “The nonwovens producers and wipes makers are working together to strengthen the product and make a better solution for the consumer. There is increasing interest for a fresher clean so the desire for something other than dry toilet paper is growing and the industry is supplying a product that can be flushed safely.”

Unfortunately, as flushable wipes’ popularity has flourished so has negative attention to these products. Just last month, The New York Times ran an article blaming flushable wipes on the city’s septic woes, and this article ranked among the most read and emailed articles on the paper’s website during the week it was published. This article is just the latest in a series of news reports that exaggerate flushable wipes’ danger to septic systems.

“The mainstream media continues to be more enamored with the catchy headline than the facts of the situation,” says president of INDA, the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, Dave Rousse, who was quoted in the article. “(The New York Times) did, near the end, print my remarks trying to correctly define the problem, but the headline continues to erroneously blame the flushable wipes category for the problems caused by non-flushable wipes that are neither designed nor marketed to be flushed and most have instructions to dispose them in the trashcan even if they do not have the Do Not Flush logo.”

INDA, along with its European counterpart, EDANA, has worked closely with the wipes industry for more than a decade to develop a set of guidelines to monitor testing methods and labeling guidelines for wipes. Now in its third edition, these guidelines include a rigorous testing criteria as well as a code of practices that require non-flushable wipes to be clearly labeled with a Do Not Flush logo.

In recent years, the efforts of these trade associations have also included a close cooperation with the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and other wastewater industry stakeholders to come up with a solution to these problems.

The result of this collaboration, so far, has been the formation of a technical work group (TWG) containing six members of the wastewater industry and six members of wipes industry. These two parties, together with a mediator, meet regularly to work out their differences. Rousse says the findings of this group, which has met three times in person, as well as through several phone conferences, will set the stage for the next step in the long process of updating the guidelines.

“We have found that everyone agrees that the flushability guidelines are a reasonable framework but they can be improved,” explains Rousse.

The standards have seven different tests that a substrate has to pass before being considered flushable. All of the parties in the TWG agree with these tests but some discomfort with the pass/fail levels does exist. Rousse says that pass/fail criteria will be one of the main focuses of the committee in establishing the fourth edition of the guidelines, a process that began in January and will be complete early next year and implemented one year later.

INDA and EDANA launched the third edition of the flushability guidelines in 2013. Another outcome of the TWG is the establishment of a product stewardship initiative (PSI) which focuses on educating makers of non-flushable products on these efforts. All of the parties involved agree that 90% of the problem in septic systems is the inappropriate flushing of products not meant to be flushed. “The challenge is, how do we get to the consumers and convince them not to flush these items,” Rousse says. “The industry needs to exert greater influence over the downstream disposal of their products and follow the INDA/EDANA code of practices for proper labeling of their wipes.”

Already much of the baby wipes industry is in compliance with the code of practice and now efforts are reaching manufacturers of hard surface disinfectant and other cleaning wipes that have a strong likelihood of ending up in the toilet after being used in the bathroom.

Rockline’s Deising agrees that consumers are not well aware of the difference between dispersible and flushable, but efforts like those by INDA and EDANA as well as new technologies in the market are allowing his company to expand its range beyond moist toilet tissue into other areas like kids wipes or feminine hygiene wipes. “Any type of personal cleaning wipes can benefit from being flushable,” he says. “As we move into new markets, educating consumers on what is safe to flush will be crucial.”

Shervin Zade, CEO of wipes converter U.S. Nonwovens, also feels that flushable wipes will continue to conquer obstacles. “The wipes industry is facing a lot of backlash but over the coming years it will smoothen out with all our mutual efforts,” he says. “Any new items are great for growth—this is a really good one as it helps hygiene which is good for overall health and safety.”

Getting Ready
There is no question that the consumer need for better hygiene has driven demand for flushable wipes. As the wipes industry continues to grapple with false claims that it is solely responsible for clogging septic systems around the world, wipes makers continue to show their confidence in this market through a number of investments worldwide.

In Spain, paper maker Aralar is starting commercial production on its latest investment—a wetlaid line capable of making 20,000 tons of dispersible materials annually. Javier Falcon, sales manager, says that the fact that his company’s product is 100% cellulosic has attracted quite of bit of attention from the industry.

“There is a lot of interest in the wet wipe manufacturing community in our flushable project,” he says. “The availability of a new technology by an experienced and competitive fiber-based products manufacturer, combined with the tonnage that will be made available to customers, has been very positively welcomed in the industry.”

Aralar announced in April 2014 it would construct a new line supplied by Voith-Trutzschler. Reportedly the first of its kind to be installed globally, the line contains hydroentangling technology offered by Trutzchlser with paper making expertise from Voith. The two machinery companies had announced they had formed a partnership to develop flushable wipes machinery in late 2013 and have also been the choice of Albaad in Israel.

Based in northern Spain and family-owned, Aralar has been involved in the production of fiber-based products since 1937. It manufactures 100,000 tons of low-grammage papers a year, 75% of which are exported and Aralar holds leadership positions in a number of highly technical segments within the paper industry.

Calling wetlaid technology and flushable wipes a natural next step for the company, Falcon says “We think that technically-demanding fabrics, like this flushable one, need to be made by manufacturers with a background in the production of highly-technical fiber products. This is the case with Aralar.”

Meanwhile, in Turkey, a.s. nonwovens committed to purchasing an Andritz neXline wetlace line earlier this year. The new line will make as many as 15,000 tons of material per year, integrating stock preparation, wet forming and hydroentanglement.

Andritz technology, which is also the choice of Dalian Ruigang in China and several other makers of flushable nonwovens, uses a blend of fibers, always containing pulp plus short cut staple fibers that are about a quarter the length of fibers used in standard spunlace. These shorter fibers offer stability but still disentangle during flushing. While pulp does not offer any dimensional stability, it adds other attributes like absorbency and biodegradability.

Pulp is added to the wetlace product in varying percentages depending on the needs of the final wipe product. More pulp means better dispersibility, but this material can limit wet strength. When comparing a standard spunlace with the flushable product, spunlace is normally not flushable but it has the advantages of a good textile appearance, bulkiness and strength.

Faster Flushing
Suominen, the world’s largest wipes substrate supplier, recently improved upon its already popular flushable substrate, Hydraspun Dispersible. In February, the Finnish company launched Hydraspun Dispersible Plus, which is said to break up more than three times faster than Hydraspun Dispersible in 10 minutes.

“Innovation drives our work to deliver convenient solutions that meet the needs of our customers and the consumer,” says product manager Kyra Dorsey. “We continuously strive to improve our Hydraspun Dispersible products focusing on faster break-up times. In conjunction with upgrading the dispersibility characteristics, it was also key in this product development to assist our customers in providing the best consumer wipe experience.”

Suominen has focused heavily on flushable wipes since it first saw consumer demand for the material in the late 1990s and has continuously improved upon its technology and invested in new capacity. Last March, the company celebrated its Hydraspun Dispersible passing the third edition of the EDANA standards by announcing its would increase global capacity for flushable wipe material by 25% with investments in Connecticut and Sweden.

“We have been able to push frontiers using our experience in wetlaid, knowledge of fiber science, understanding the expectations of the wastewater industry as well as being a partner in our customers’ successes,” adds Dorsey.

Earlier this year, Suominen said it would invest in a new line in North America, but executives did not comment on whether or not the new line would produce flushable substrates, saying only that the new wetlaid line would serve a number of high value segments.

“I am extremely pleased to announce this major move in the execution of our growth strategy. Since we are still in the preparation phase of the investment project, several important decisions, including selection of machine suppliers, are still to be made. Consequently, we cannot yet comment on the total value of the investment, but it is safe to conclude that this constitutes the most significant single initiative in the €30–50 million growth investment program we announced in December,” says president and CEO Nina Kopola.

There’s no doubt, however, that Suominen’s commitment to flushable wipes is strong, as is its commitment to the flushable market—not only through new developments like Hydraspun Dispersible but also participation in INDA and EDANA efforts to combat negative attention in the flushable wipes industry.

“We have made some strides as an industry that we would not have made without the help of INDA or EDANA,” says Dorsey, who has been active in the INDA/EDANA  flushability committee.

Suominen has also been active both in the TWG and has taken committed positions as a leading wipes maker and a pioneer in the flushability market. “It has become very clear in the last 20 years, the global consumer has a desire to enhance their personal cleaning and the market growth reflects this well,” Dorsey adds. “We do believe that the consumer will continue to demand flushable products and will expect product improvements.”