Reminder: AB 818, Bloom – Solid Waste: Premoistened Nonwoven Disposable Wipes for California

By: Kirsten Alcock, Principal Product Safety Consultant, email

Last year I wrote a blog advising that there is a new regulation coming down the line in California regarding an additional phrase requirement on disposable wipes for California. I just wanted to remind those companies that are using disposable wipes that if they are creating labels, they can and should be including this now.

Although the regulation does not come into effect until July 1 of this year, it is important to start now as label creation can take quite some time to do. Labels themselves are very expensive so if you’re creating labels for new products, it’s best to add this now so you won’t have to throw up labels in the future.

More and more clients are selling their products in this wipe form due to this convenience for our daily lives. With wipes comes the issue of how they are being disposed of. Where I live, it is an issue with our sewer systems and we are asked not to flush wipes. We are asked to place them into the garbage instead.

New regulations are coming into force in California that you may not be aware of. On October 7, 2021, AB 818 was signed.

The bill would require certain premoistened nonwoven disposable wipes manufactured on or after July 1, 2022, to be labeled clearly and conspicuously with the phrase “Do Not Flush” and a related symbol, as specified. The bill would establish enforcement provisions, including authorizing a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day, up to a maximum of $100,000 per violation, to be imposed on a covered entity who violates those provisions by not providing these additional label statement/symbol requirements.

The bill goes into more details about the artwork requirements for size and contrast, location of the Do Not Flush + associated symbol, etc.

If you have the intent to sell your wipe within California,  we highly suggest you start the process of including the phrase Do Not Flush and the associated symbol on your product label. Many companies have already included statements such as this already.

Dell Tech will be including information such as this in our Enhanced US CPSC Reviews. If you need help with your CPSC compliance to sell your consumer products within the US, please contact us. We are happy to discuss the services we can offer you and your team.

Dell Tech
Kirsten Alcock, B.Sc. (Hons) 
Principal Product Safety Consultant
519-858-5074
kirsten@delltech.com

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