Memorandum by the Nappy Alliance
KEY ISSUES
The Nappy Alliance welcomes the House of Lords
Science and Technology Committee's inquiry which looks at sustainable
approaches to waste reduction. Disposable nappies currently account
for around 4 per cent of all household waste, a percentage which
is likely to increase as recycling rates for other waste streams
go up. Real nappies are the only alternative to disposable nappies
when it comes to waste reduction. Environmental claims made by
manufacturers of disposable nappies with regards to the reduced
weight of their products and the fact that some of their nappies
are now 80 per cent decomposable are irrelevant given that the
vast majority of disposable nappies will end up in landfill, where
it will take approximately 500 years for them to decompose. In
addition, landfill sites create methane, a greenhouse gas which
is an even more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
THE ALLIANCE
The Nappy Alliance was established by independent
providers of real nappies to act as the trade body for the commercial
market of reusable nappies, to promote their use amongst new parents
and to address the on-going issue of the 400,000 tonnes of disposable
nappies which go to landfill in the UK every year. The Alliance
promotes awareness of the key benefits of reusable nappies such
as a wider consumer choice, a cheaper option for parents than
disposables and environmental benefits and cost savings to waste
disposal authorities.
THE SCALE
OF DISPOSABLE
NAPPY WASTE
PROBLEM
Nappy waste currently accounts for 3-4 per cent
of all household waste and constitutes the largest identifiable
category of household waste. With increasing levels of recycling
of other waste streams, this percentage is likely to increase
even more. Currently, nearly 3 billion nappies are thrown away
in the UK every year—8 million nappies a day. The Environment
Agency estimated that the decomposition timescale for some of
the materials and chemicals currently used in disposables is more
than 500 years. The paper-fluff and faeces should take approximately
100 and 10 years respectively to degrade. Given that 38 per cent
of all UK methane emissions are accounted for by landfill, reducing
the amount of disposable nappies going to landfill could have
a significant impact on the UK's greenhouse emissions.
CHANGES IN
REAL NAPPY
DESIGN
Real nappies have come a long way from the "terry
towels" which many people remember to the extent that real
nappies are now as convenient to use for most parents as disposable
nappies. Real nappies come in lots of modern shapes which fasten
easily with poppers, Velcro or plastic grips so the nappy fits
a baby snugly. Parents have a choice of Flat Nappies, Shaped Nappies,
all-in-one nappies or one-size-fits-all nappies.
Two types of liner are generally available:
washable or flushable biodegradable type. To prevent leaks most
nappies are covered with a breathable waterproof cover also known
as a "wrap".
In addition, modern washing machines are so
effective that real nappies no longer need to be pre-soaked or
boiled as used to be the case. By using energy efficient washing
machines, washing at the right temperature and line drying, young
parents can help to significantly reduce the environmental impact
of nappies, particularly the creation of landfill.
CHANGES IN
DISPOSABLE NAPPY
DESIGN
Manufacturers of disposable nappies have trumpeted
recent technological improvements such as a reduction of the average
weight of an unsoiled disposable nappy by 40 per cent and claim
this will greatly reduce the amount of nappy waste going to landfill.
In fact, given that most of the weight of disposable nappies is
constituted by baby waste (with the average weight of an unsoiled
nappy of 44.6g and the average weight of a soiled nappy of around
150g[29]),
reducing the weight of an unsoiled disposable nappy will have
little effect once the soiled nappy ends up in landfill.
In addition, and whilst we welcome the fact
that some manufacturers of disposable nappies have increased the
level of compostable materials in their nappies, the fact remains
that in an anaerobic environment such as a landfill where the
vast majority of disposable nappies will end up, it will still
take many decades for these materials to decompose, whilst creating
harmful methane emissions.
LIFE CYCLE
ASSESSMENT OF
NAPPIES
The Environment Agency which published a Life
Cycle Assessment on the environmental impact of both reusable
and disposable nappies in 2005, concluded that there was little
overall environmental difference between the two products. The
Environment Agency has since acknowledged that the study was seriously
flawed from the outset. A revised Life Cycle Assessment has been
commissioned and after considerable delay is now expected to be
published in December. This flawed assessment has obviously caused
considerable negative interest amongst certain media but the Nappy
Alliance expects this revised Report to reflect the overall environmental
benefits of reusable nappies much better than the original report
did.
Regardless of the anticipated positive conclusion
for real nappies of the revised LCA report, certainly in terms
of landfill reduction, real nappies remain the only viable option
to disposable nappies.
GOVERNMENT POLICY
The Nappy Alliance welcomes the efforts made
by the Government in its recent revised Waste Strategy and its
aims to put more emphasis on prevention and reuse, as well as
providing stronger incentives for businesses, local authorities
and individuals to reduce waste. However, we are disappointed
and surprised that its recent consultation—Incentives for
recycling by households— actively encouraged local authorities
to shy away from taking action on the amount of disposable nappies
going to landfill. The consultation document encouraged local
areas essentially to give up on what is the one single biggest
identifiable source of household waste by explicitly stating that
young parents ought to be given more leeway to produce waste because
of their dependency on disposable nappies.
There is a viable alternative to disposable
nappies in the form of reusable nappies which offer similar levels
of convenience as disposable nappies and which do not create any
landfill. By not incentivising young parents to use real nappies,
the Department appears to be missing an opportunity to significantly
reduce the 3-4 per cent of household waste going to landfill which
consists of nappy waste.
In addition, the enormous cost of disposing
the three billion nappies a year to landfill currently falls exclusively
on local authorities and therefore indirectly on local taxpayers.
The Government urgently needs to start looking into ways in which
manufacturers of disposable nappies cover part of the cost of
disposing their products, by means of a levy or an environmental
tax on disposable nappies.
SUMMARY
The Nappy Alliance believes that better design
and materials can play a key role in the reduction of the amount
and volume of waste going to landfill every year. It is however
clear that the Government's top priority in reducing landfill
should remain waste prevention. For the reasons stated above,
we remain skeptical about some of the claims made by manufacturers
with regards to changes made to the weight and composition of
their products and the effect this will have on landfill reduction.
Given that disposable nappies account for 3-4 per cent of all
household waste going to landfill and given that a reduction in
weight of an unsoiled nappy will have little effect on the tonnage
of disposable nappies going to landfill, real nappies are the
only viable option for parents who wish to reduce their impact
on landfill significantly.
October 2007
29 Environment Agency, Life Cycle Assessment of
Disposable Nappies and Reusable Nappies in the UK, 2005, p 22. Back
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