The bottom line?Will we ever know which type of nappy is environmentally kinder? Not according to a recent report examining the use of both disposable and reusable nappies.
In May last year, the Environment Agency caused shockwaves by declaring that reusable nappies were no better for the environment than disposables. The study, involving over 2,000 disposable nappy users and a much smaller 117 reusable nappy users, compared using disposable nappies, washing reusables at home and using a nappy laundry service. The Agency said it examined all the impacts while a child was wearing nappies and that there was little or no difference between the different types of nappy. In fact, the report stated that the drain on the environment in terms of raw material use and energy of manufacturing disposables and dealing with the waste was equal to the impact of generating energy to run washing machines and tumble driers for cloth nappies. A city of wasteThe debate over reusables and disposables continues to be fierce, especially since nappies create 400 tonnes of waste each year in the UK, which is roughly the same as the amount of waste produced by a city the size of Birmingham. It is estimated that nearly 7 million disposable nappies are used each day, according to government figures, and most of this ends up on landfill sites and takes years to degrade. The Environment Agency report was conducted by independent environmental consultants and was based on a "life cycle assessment" of every stage of the manufacture, use and disposal of disposable nappies and reusables (both those washed at home and those cleaned by commercial laundry services). The report took into consideration the energy and material used in manufacturing the nappy, the number of changes required each day for different types and the way reusable nappies were washed, including temperature and size of loads. The most significant ways in which nappy production, use and disposal affect the environment were in terms of resource depletion, acidification and global warming. The biggest ways disposables affected the environment were in their manufacture, including producing the raw materials, and managing the subsequent waste. Reusables, on the other hand, were guilty of using electricity for washing and drying, as well as fuels, if parents used a laundry service. What you can do to help Despite the fact that the report says there is "no substantial difference" between reusables and disposables, the Environment Agency is keen to make parents aware of the ways in which they can help reduce the environmental impact nappies create. They are hopeful that the report will encourage disposable nappy manufacturers to improve the performance of their products, particularly the amounts that end up in landfills.
As for the role parents can play, they advise parents to look at how they wash their reusable nappies, in particular washing them in bigger loads at lower temperatures. In addition, using an A-rated washing machine at 60C would have approximately 24% less impact on global warming than the report claimed, if 24 nappies were used per week instead of the 47 mentioned by users surveyed. Where to next? |
