Wet wipes are a convenient mainstay in the bathroom, but now they're taking on new life as litter on beaches in the United Kingdom.

A new report from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) notes that with an average of 22 wet wipes per mile of beach.

Unlike toilet paper, wet wipes don't break down after being flushed, which is why it's recommended to throw them in the trash rather than the toilet.

(MORE: )

"Our sewerage systems weren't built to cope with wet wipes," told the BBC."When flushed they don't disintegrate like toilet paper, and they typically contain plastic so once they reach the sea, they last for a very long time."

That explains why volunteers found 50 percent more wet wipes on U.K. beaches, up from 14 wipes per mile in 2013.

The report's data came from MCS' Great British Beach Clean, an annual event to raise awareness of littering on beaches while cleaning them up. For 2014's report, 5,000 volunteers combed through 301 different U.K. beaches and collected over 2,500 bags of trash during their four-day run.

After wet wipes and other unflushable items go down the toilet, they can either cause an overflow or dump out into rivers and seas.

"That's when we find sewage-related debris, including wet wipes, on the beach," Coombes said.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Britain's Worst Beaches