To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for his assessment of the impact incorrect disposal of feminine hygiene products has on (i) water pollution levels; and (ii) our marine environment.

My Department does not hold specific water pollution statistics relating to the incorrect disposal of feminine hygiene products however these products would be captured in the general issue of Sewage Related Debris (SRD). SRD is reported to impact our rivers and our beaches due to both the operation of the sewerage system and the way that the public misuse the system.

By necessity, sewerage systems will have a number of storm water overflows present and these are designed to operate in wet weather only. These overflows are a necessary component in all sewerage networks that can carry storm water, as they ensure that flows cannot back up in the system and flood domestic or other properties. The discharges that will intermittently occur from these overflows, during storm events, are regulated by NIEA under Water (NI) Order 1999 Discharge Consents. It is impracticable to construct sewerage systems that would be capable of carrying the maximum possible storm flows, due to the size of the pipes and infrastructure that would be required to allow this. Also, during dry weather periods, the flows would be very low and, in such large diameter pipes, this would lead to septicity, odour, blockage and infestation issues.

Feminine hygiene products entering the environment in the first place is a direct result of the misuse of the sewerage system, either intentionally or inadvertently. As you will have seen from NI Water’s recent television adverts, the sewerage systems in NI, similarly to the rest of the UK, suffer greatly from misuse by the public through the flushing of sanitary items, wipes, disposable nappies, cotton buds etc. Large volumes of these items block screens on sewerage systems and in addition block the sewers themselves causing polluting discharges.

The problems of flushing wipes has been exacerbated over the last months with people working from home during the COVID19 Crisis and an increase in the use of antibacterial and antiviral wipes. NI Water’s cannot control directly what is flushed into the sewers and rely on educational measures such as their recent TV adverts and ‘Bag it and Bin It’ campaigns to alter behaviours. Such SRD will not enter the environment if it is not flushed into the sewerage system.

The presence of sewage related debris (SRD) on our coastal shores is indicative of the impact of the incorrect disposal of sanitary items and can be associated with an increase of faecal indicator bacteria in waters. Research has shown that up to 90% of sanitary products are comprised of plastics of various types. In the environment the fibres in these products become disassociated and breakdown into smaller fragments through UV degradation and physical abrasion, generating microplastic particles.

My Department is aware of the presence of sanitary products at bathing water sites and has initiated a monitoring programme to assess the overall level of microplastics in our marine water and sediments. It is too early at this stage to report on any findings from this monitoring programme.