California’s Do Not Flush law requires manufacturers of most premoistened wipes sold in the state to print a clear “Do Not Flush” warning and a standardized symbol on the packaging. It was enacted as Assembly Bill 818 in the 2021–2022 session and lives in the Public Resources Code starting at Section 49650. The rules bind manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers that handle labeling; they do not fine consumers for what goes down the toilet at home.
Which Wipes Are Covered
The statute reaches two groups of products.1California Legislative Information. California Public Resources Code 49650 The first is any premoistened nonwoven disposable wipe marketed as a baby or diapering wipe. The second is any such wipe made wholly or partly from petrochemical-derived fibers that is likely to be used in a bathroom and has significant potential to be flushed.
That second category is broad. It picks up bathroom and toilet cleaning wipes, disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizing wipes, facial and makeup removal wipes, personal care wipes, feminine hygiene wipes, adult incontinence wipes, and body cleansing wipes. A retailer that puts its own store-brand label on a covered product takes on the same obligations as the original manufacturer.
What the Label Has to Show
Every covered product manufactured on or after July 1, 2022 must carry two things on its packaging: the words “Do Not Flush” and a standardized symbol based on the INDA/EDANA industry guidelines.2California Legislative Information. California Public Resources Code 49651 The text notice must cover at least 2% of the principal display panel’s surface area.1California Legislative Information. California Public Resources Code 49650 Both the text and the symbol have to hit at least 70% contrast against the surrounding artwork.
Placement depends on how the package works:2California Legislative Information. California Public Resources Code 49651
- Cylindrical containers with flip lids can carry both the symbol and the text on the main display panel where it shows each time a wipe comes out. As an alternative, the symbol goes on the main display panel and the symbol or text (or both) goes on the flip lid, covering at least 8% of the lid’s surface. Embossed lid markings are allowed and don’t need to meet the contrast rule.
- Flexible film packaging needs the symbol on both the main display panel and the dispensing side. The text notice goes on whichever of those panels is visible each time a wipe is pulled.
- Refillable tubs and rigid containers carry both the symbol and text on the main display panel, positioned so they show during use.
- Packaging not designed to dispense individual wipes carries both marks prominently on the main display panel.
Seams, folds, and other design elements can’t be used to hide either mark. The warning has to actually be visible in normal use, not tucked into a crease.
Who Is Responsible
The “covered entity” on the hook is the manufacturer, but the definition sweeps in any wholesaler, supplier, or retailer that handles labeling or packaging of a covered product. Nothing in AB 818 penalizes a household for flushing the wrong thing. The law is aimed squarely at what appears on the package before the product reaches a consumer.
Penalties and Enforcement
Enforcement can come from the Attorney General, a district attorney, a city attorney, a county counsel, or a city prosecutor in a city with a full-time prosecutor’s office.3California Legislative Information. California AB-818 Solid Waste: Premoistened Nonwoven Disposable Wipes A court can order the company to stop selling the non-compliant product.
Civil penalties run up to $2,500 per day, capped at $100,000 per violation. A single violation means offering for sale or selling one or more units of the same non-compliant product on a given day, so a company selling three different mislabeled wipe products racks up three separate violations, each accruing daily. In setting the amount, a court weighs the gravity of the violation, the company’s good-faith efforts to comply, its ability to pay, and the deterrent effect on the industry. Penalties go to the office that brought the action; when the Attorney General collects, the money flows into the Unfair Competition Law Fund.
The Education Program Sunsets, the Labels Don’t
AB 818 also created the California Consumer Education and Outreach Program, which required covered entities to participate in a wastewater collection study, run baseline consumer opinion surveys, mount a multimedia campaign in English and Spanish, and file annual reports with the State Water Resources Control Board.4California Legislative Information. California Public Resources Code 49652
That program has an end date. Section 49652 concludes the education and outreach program on December 31, 2026, and the section itself is repealed on January 1, 2027. The labeling requirements in Section 49651 carry no sunset. After 2026, manufacturers stop funding the education campaign but still have to label every covered product with the “Do Not Flush” warning.
What It Means at Home
For a California resident, the visible effect of the law is on the box: a “Do Not Flush” symbol and text on the wipes sold in stores. The law leaves the plumbing consequences of ignoring that warning where they were before. A homeowner is generally responsible for the sewer lateral connecting the house to the public main, and a blockage caused by wipes or grease in that lateral is the homeowner’s expense to clear. Toilet paper is engineered to fall apart in water within seconds; the wipes covered by AB 818 are not, which is why the label now has to say so.