ACCC takes legal action over claims cleaning wipes 'flushable'

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This was published 7 years ago

ACCC takes legal action over claims cleaning wipes 'flushable'

By Lucy Cormack
Updated

Kimberly-Clark Australia, Pental Limited and Pental Products Pty Ltd will face the Federal Court over allegations they independently made false or misleading representations about so-called "flushable" wipes they marketed and supplied in Australia.

The proceedings were brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Monday, in relation to Kimberly-Clark's Kleenex Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths and Pental's White King Power Clean Flushable Toilet Wipes, also called Flushable Bathroom Power Wipes.

The consumer watchdog has alleged use of advertising terms such as "flushable", "able to be flushed in the toilet", and "designed ... [to] disintegrate in the sewage system" led consumers to believe the products had similar characteristics to toilet paper, when this was not the case.

"This is a major matter for us, and the allegations we are making are extremely serious," said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

Kimberly-Clark products are the subject of Federal Court proceedings.

Kimberly-Clark products are the subject of Federal Court proceedings.

"These products did not, for example, disintegrate like toilet paper when flushed. Australian water authorities face significant problems when non-suitable products are flushed down the toilet as they contribute to blockages in household and municipal sewerage systems."

The Federal Court proceedings follow a complaint made to the ACCC by the consumer advocate group Choice, which awarded the Kimberly-Clark Flushable Wipes for Kids a "Shonky Award" in 2015.

Choice spokesperson Tom Godfrey described the court action as "welcome news".

"The 'flushable' claims were one of the greatest consumer cons going around. It was very clear these products shouldn't be flushed," he said.

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Kleenex Flushable wipes earned a Choice Shonky Award in 2015, prompting an ACCC investigation.

Kleenex Flushable wipes earned a Choice Shonky Award in 2015, prompting an ACCC investigation.

"Consumers in Australia and around the world have been hoodwinked for years and it was all just a cynical ploy to get us to pay more."

Mr Sims said the allegations were so serious because many consumers would not have bought the product had it not been described as "flushable".

Fatbergs are created by a mixture of wet wipes, sewage, fat and oils.

Fatbergs are created by a mixture of wet wipes, sewage, fat and oils. Credit: Sydney Water

"That's where I think a lot of the harm is. They would have sold a lot of products they might not have otherwise," he told Fairfax Media.

"This all fits under our campaign to take action against large companies misleading consumers. This a key priority for us, as it was for Heinz, Medibank, Dulux, Nurofen, to name a few."

In February this year enormous clusters of wet wipes, termed "fatbergs", were found to be clogging up sewer pipes across NSW, including a one-tonne cluster that blew out a pumping station near Lake Macquarie.

White King Power Clean Flushable Toilet Wipes were advertised as being a "flushable toilet wipe".

White King Power Clean Flushable Toilet Wipes were advertised as being a "flushable toilet wipe".

"Wet wipes are responsible for around 80 per cent of all sewer blockages in Hunter Water's system," Hunter Water Corporation spokesman Nick Kaiser told Fairfax Media in February.

In March Sydney Water was "inundated" with complaints from households who had paid $300 to $16,000 for plumbers to clear drains clogged with balls of intransigent wipes.

Like Choice, Sydney Water also found non-flushable and "flushable" wipes failed to break down after 20 hours of testing in water.

The water utility had threatened its own legal action to end "flushable" claims.

In response to the Federal Court action, Kimberly-Clark Australia maintained that it stood by claims about the flushability of its Kleenex Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths, which were supplied until May 2016.

"Our claims that these products are flushable are accurate and the proceedings will be defended on that basis. These products and the current Kleenex Cottonelle Flushable Wipes meet or exceed the requirements set out in [internationally recognised] flushability guidelines, which are the only widely accepted guidelines for assessing flushability," a Kimberly-Clark spokesperson said.

Pental said its product packaging was inherited from a major international company, leading it to believe that the labelling of the White King Bathroom Wipes conformed with all legal requirements.

"In September 2014, Pental undertook its own review of the...packaging and removed the claims relating to disintegration like toilet paper. This was well prior to any ACCC investigation," Pental said in a statement.

"Pental is therefore disappointed that the ACCC has decided to issue proceedings, despite Pental's proactive approach in removing the claims of concern to the ACCC and the fact that other larger multinational companies continue to sell similar products labelled as 'flushable'".

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