Reusable nappies VS disposables

• May. 11 by Alice Tidey (3)

Reusable nappies have, in the past few years, managed to become fashionable again. Not only are several charities built around the concept of using reusable or “real” nappies but local councils themselves advise citizens to use them.

While it may be harder for parents to find and buy reusable nappies at their local supermarkets, these “green” nappies are hailed as having many qualities for toddlers and parents alike.

According to Go Real, a brand for real nappy advice and support, using real nappies over disposables will help parents save up to £500, and more if they use the same nappies on subsequent children. They also highlight the fact that they are called green for a reason and that by using them parents should be able to reduce their weekly rubbish and carbon footprint by up to 40%.

These nappies that come in all kind of shapes and colours are because of the fabric used, free of chemicals. Fabrics used to produce them include cotton, bamboo, fleece, wool, microfiber and hemp.

Go Real, historically known as Real Nappy Campaign, have for the past 13 years now, organised an annual Real Nappy Week which aim is to promote the benefits of using reusable nappies, by organising events.

This year the Real Nappy Week was taking place from April 27 to May 3. Several events were organised in the West Midlands, in Birmingham and Solihull. One of those was a Real Nappy Celebration, free of charge, with entertainment for children, a real nappy fashion show, and information.

However hard these charities work, disposable nappies remain the trend. One of the major concerns raised by this is the overwhelming amount of them ending up in UK landfill.

Each year, about 700,000 tonnes of nappy waste is disposed of in landfill. Not only is that environmentally wrong it is also incredibly expensive for local councils, as an European directive has set targets to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by 2010. To reach these targets and to make sure local authorities follow them, the Treasury has decided to increase the rate of the landfill tax (£32 a tonne in October 2008) each year until 2011.

Furthermore, one of the main arguments used by charities has been challenged by a report made by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). This report found that using washable nappies, while reducing weekly rubbish, does not reduce parents’ carbon footprint. Surprisingly, they have a higher carbon footprint than their disposable equivalents.

Indeed, the report showed that while disposable nappies used over two and a half years would have a global warming impact of 550kg of CO2, reusable nappies produced 570kg of CO2 on average. But if parents used tumble dryers and washed the reusable nappies at 90C, the impact would reach an alarming 993kg of CO2.

To answer the landfill problem, England is to open its first nappy recycling plant in Tyseley, Birmingham. Knowaste, a Canadian company which recycles nappies and other products in the US, will invest more than £20m in the UK plant in the next 5 years.

The facility will recycle around 30,000 tonnes of nappies, approximately 4% of Britain’s nappy waste a year, and aim to eventually recycle up to 13% by opening other recycling plant. The waste will then be turned into a material that will be used to produce a variety of plastic-based products, including roof cladding tiles, cycle helmets and plastic injections for home insulation.

Knowaste says that 98% of a disposable nappy or incontinence pad can be removed from the waste stream and that the costs for recycling are competitive compared to sending the material to landfill.

Environmental groups such as Go Real argue that recycling is not the solution to the landfill problem and believe that a change in consumer behaviour is needed. They are partially right, as 4% or 13 % is not nearly high enough and that most of the waste will undeniably end up in landfill. Environmentally speaking, the choice is between using disposable nappies that would most likely be sent to landfill or use reusable nappies that produce a higher carbon footprint.