Position on Plastics

Our Position on Plastic

Scottish Water Aims to Reduce its Plastic Impact on the Environment

Use of plastics worldwide is increasing, and over 400 million tonnes of plastic were produced in 2024^*i. The unintended consequence of use is that plastic waste has become ubiquitous in the environment.

Scottish Water collects and treats 1 billion litres of wastewater every day from households, businesses, industry and some drainage from roads and roofs. Inappropriate disposal of plastic items is a societal challenge, and wastewater systems have become a pathway for plastics to enter the water environment.

From a household perspective, the wastewater system was not designed to cope with anything other than the 3Ps (pee, poo and toilet paper). Households should only put the 3Ps down the toilet.

It is Scottish Water’s intention to reduce the quantity of plastics leaving our systems, therefore providing greater protection of the environment. To achieve this, there needs to be a focus on reducing the quantity of plastics entering our systems and how it is managed once it is there.

Plastics can come into the wastewater system from inappropriate flushing of wet wipes, sanitary and incontinence care products such as sanitary towels, nappies, panty liners, and tampons. Litter can flow with rainfall into our system and, together, can cause blockages and choke pumps within our wastewater systems, which can reduce sewer capacity and may lead to flooding or discharges into the environment.

Some larger plastic items, such as synthetic clothing and dishwashing sponges, can break down to create microplastics (plastic smaller than 5mm in size), which can also enter our wastewater system. Road run-off, containing particles from vehicle tyres and road paint, is another potential route for microplastics to enter the sewerage network.

In 2025, there were around 35,000 sewer blockages within Scotland’s public wastewater system, and our estimate is that over 80% of these were due to inappropriate disposal of items. At wastewater treatment works, screens removed over 6,200 tonnes of grit and sewage-related debris in 2025, which contains a significant proportion of plastic material. Unfortunately, not all plastics can be removed by screens and may end up in the environment. Controlling the source is critical to reducing the impact of plastic and microplastics on the environment.

Actions by Scottish Water

In addition to Scottish Water’s screening of wastewater, we consider ‘prevention’ (reduction in inappropriate disposal of plastics into the wastewater system) to be the best approach to reducing impact. A preventative approach may include customer education and awareness campaigns, and influencing policy, which includes product labelling, improved product design, eliminating plastic where alternatives exist and reducing the reliance on single-use plastic items.

Customer Awareness Campaign

Scottish Water has a public campaign, ‘Nature Calls’, to raise awareness of the problems caused by the inappropriate disposal of plastic items into the wastewater system. The campaign aims to reduce the number of sewer blockages and to protect the environment. It calls on the public to “only flush the 3Ps (Pee, Poo, and Toilet Paper)” and “bin the wipes”. Additionally, we call on the Government to introduce mandatory responsible labelling of all items likely to be inappropriately disposed of to sewers and to end misleading environmental claims, i.e. claims of “flushability” and “biodegradability”.

Influencing policy

Activities to date:

Scottish Water called on the Government to introduce Regulations that ban wet wipes containing plastic. This was passed into law in Scotland in 2026 and will take effect from the 11th August 2027.

Scottish Water co-chairs the Water UK Plastics Network for the UK Water Industry, which aims to understand the source of plastics received by the water industry within the wastewater network and to work to influence source control policy in relation to these plastics. The aim is to see significant reductions in the quantities of plastic received by the water industry.

We will continue to work with stakeholders at UK national and European levels to promote effective labelling of non-flushable products, as well as product substitution and the banning of single-use plastics where appropriate. We have identified five areas we will work to achieve.

Future opportunities to reduce plastic and inappropriate disposal to the sewer

Scottish Water would welcome UK-wide initiatives:

• For the UK Government to introduce mandatory responsible labelling for all items likely to be inappropriately disposed of in the sewer, and an end to misleading environmental claims such as flushable, biodegradable, etc.
• For all consumer items containing plastics, likely to be inappropriately disposed of in the sewer, to be labelled with “plastic in product” and either the “do not flush” or “tidy man” symbols.
• For advertisements of products likely to be inappropriately disposed of in the sewer, include the correct disposal/ recycling route within the advert.
• To introduce a UK standard for toilet paper which demonstrates that it will pass a disintegration test and that it does not contain plastic.
• Asking for the banning of plastic in items often inappropriately disposed of in the sewer, where alternative materials are available, i.e. plastic tampon applicators, plastic backing strips and intentionally added microplastics.

Research on plastic

Scottish Water is working with the Water Industry across the UK & Europe, UK Water Industry Research Limited*ⁱⁱⁱ and academic institutions to more fully understand the sources of, impacts from and behaviours of microplastics in our water and wastewater systems. This will include consideration of appropriate analytical methods to assess the type, size and quantity of microplastics in wastewater and bioresources. We will look to undertake further research and development where necessary to reduce harm and deliver benefits for our customers, communities and the environment.

Scottish Water actions to reduce plastic

Following our laboratory audit, we are undertaking actions to reduce the use of single-use plastic, increase recycling of plastics and increase the recycled plastic content of some of our sampling bottles to reduce the virgin plastic content. Scottish Water has carried out an exercise to reduce office consumables, including plastic items.

Scottish Water has installed 140 “Top up Taps” across Scotland to encourage the pubic to refill their water bottles and reduce plastic waste. This has saved up to 21 million plastic bottles so far. 

* (i) World Environment Day | United Nations

*(ii) United Nations Environment Programme. Turning off the Tap. How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy. Executive summary. turning_off_the_tap_ESEN.pdf (unep.org)

*(iii) Leading the Water Industry Research Agenda (ukwir.org)