INDA’s “flushability” guidelines

Truth in advertising doesn’t always apply to products advertised as “flushable.” Some allegedly flushable items are clogging California’s wastewater treatment plants, so Assemblyman Jared Huffman introduced a bill to ban the flushable label on such items as baby wipes, feminine hygiene products, diapers, condoms, wash cloths and other items. The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), which has developed Flushability Guidelines and represents makers of many flushable products, has challenged the bill; an all-out lobbying effort by INDA members altered the bill to incorporate the guidelines. INDA also testified against the bill. While it was temporarily stopped, INDA expects to see it again in 2011.