United Kingdom

As I said, we have a septic tank (rare in our area, could be bypassed since a local sewer upgrade, but it's never been done), so I have grisly and hard-won only too close-up experience of what happens when a septic tank clogs - which has happened to us too often in the past, and I've reckoned the non-degradeable (for 100 years or so at least) plastic-containing wipes have caused most of the problems.

After much hunting around (and this isn't meant as an advert, other brands may be as good), I've found Andrex Washlets the best for starting to break up as soon as they hit the pan. For visible solubility, they compare with most toilet tissue. They're no more expensive than other brands and formulations. They may be a tad more, let's say, "delicate" in their use, but nothing a little at least daily practice and finesse can't compensate for perfectly happily. They'd certainly be able to clean a hard surface with no problems.

So if it can be done with those sorts of wipes (water isn't their only additive, but it's the main one) - which, let's face it, endure what are at times very challenging applications - I can't see why it can't be done for other sorts of wipes.

I think one reason why this hasn't been addressed earlier is that we're only just waking up to the presence and harm of nanoplastics in the environment, and also these types of wipes have grown more popular for reasons of convenience and perhaps from a heightened, if sometimes misplaced, sense of "hygiene". People used to flush newspaper (in some places, no doubt still do), but our conurbations and their sewer systems have grown larger over the years, along with the demands on them, so the problems multiply.