8 Ways to Reduce The Environmental Impact of Baby Diapers
How using baby diapers can be made more environmentally friendly
As many of us cause a lot of waste daily, natural resources are running out and landfills are growing rapidly. One of the waste types that fills bins quickly is baby diapers. They are the 3rd most common product in landfills! This was not an issue in the past, as diapers were washed and reused, and children were trained to use potties early. But since the first single-use baby diaper was presented on the market in the middle of the previous century, the diaper world has changed.
The diaper world was revolutionized by single-use diapers because many parents find it easier to use single-use nappies than to wash them. But using diapers only once has several important disadvantages:
- they are more expensive, so some parents have to spend more time at work to be able to pay for single-use nappies
- single-use diapers significantly increase the amount of waste produced, not only because of the diaper itself but also because of the packaging. As diapers are partly made of plastic, they are non-biodegradable. This means they can survive in the environment or in landfills for a long time: about 500 years!
- single-use diapers require much more natural resources. Natural resources are used for the material of the diaper and for energy to produce and transport diapers. It is estimated that 22 kg (48.5 pounds) of fossil fuel and 136 kg (300 pounds) of wood are needed to provide single-use diapers to one baby for one year!
- single-use diapers are considered safe but can release dangerous substances in landfills. Dangerous substances include phthalates, acrylamide, and dyes. Phthalates are used to make plastic soft and can for example damage our reproductive and neurological systems. Acrylamide is used to absorb water and can cause cancer. Dyes are used to make diapers look better; some contain heavy metals which can cause Parkinson’s disease (further reading: How Heavy Metal Pollution Contributes to Parkinson Disease).
As diapers in landfills can cause water, soil, and air pollution and contribute to climate change, it is critical to make using baby diapers more environmentally friendly. This is how baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly:
Using reusable diapers
The first way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by going back to using reusable diapers. Reusable diapers, also called cloth diapers, are made of many fabric layers. These fabric layers partly contain sustainable materials, including bamboo (further reading: 3 Reasons Why Bamboo Is a Great Sustainable Material) and hemp (further reading: 6 Ways Hemp Can Be Used As Great Alternative To Conventional Materials). Other materials used in cloth diapers are cotton and plastic. They are durable, user-friendly, don’t let urine and feces through and instead absorb it, and breathe.
Using renewable materials
The second way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by using renewable materials. Renewable materials are materials that grow back relatively quickly, such as hemp (further reading: 6 Ways Hemp Can Be Used As Great Alternative To Conventional Materials) and bamboo (further reading: 3 Reasons Why Bamboo Is a Great Sustainable Material); non-renewable materials such as fossil fuels can be depleted as they take a long time to be replenished. This is more environmentally friendly for several reasons, including contributing to mitigating climate change.
Improving material efficiency
The third way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by increasing material efficiency. Material efficiency means that less material is required for the same diaper properties. This is already being applied as in 1987, a standard diaper weighed 65 g (2.3 ounces); today a standard diaper weighs about 30 g (1.1 ounces). This reduction is caused by replacing fluff pulp with a different material that can absorb more fluid. So far, a synthetic material was used but bamboo fibers are suitable as well.
Using recycled materials
The fourth way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by using recycled materials. Recycled materials can be obtained from different parts of a diaper’s lifecycle:
- waste produced during the diaper production process
- waste produced before using diapers, such as packaging material
- waste produced after using diapers
The quality of the materials differs depending on the stage from which the recycled materials are obtained. Recycled materials from the production process are often high-quality materials. This means that for example plastic waste can be used for bottles and plastic packaging, reducing the need for fossil fuels. Waste produced before using the diapers, such as paper, is often well-recyclable but of a lower quality than raw materials. Using recycled materials produced after using diapers is most challenging as these materials are contaminated by urine and/or feces.
Recycling diapers
The fifth way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by recycling diapers. Recycling diapers is helpful because used diapers contain many valuable materials, including plastics and fibers. These materials can be extracted and used as raw materials for other products, even though this is currently not highly feasible. Feasibility is limited because of the urine and feces contamination and the complex mix of materials in diapers. As a consequence, the extracted materials have low quality and the recycling process requires many steps. Currently, about 0.3% of single-use diapers are recycled. Several companies are working on increasing this percentage by implementing further technologies for single-use diaper recycling. In this video, you can learn more about a recent initiative:
Breaking diapers down naturally
The sixth way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by naturally breaking down used diapers. Typically, diapers end up in landfills or are burned. But naturally breaking them down is possible as well when the waterproof and non-biodegradable components such as the outer plastic layer and adhesive tape are removed. Breaking down diapers naturally can be done using several methods:
- biodegradation: when the inside fluff consists of natural materials, they can be converted by microorganisms into sugars. This way, diapers’ weight can reduce by 80% in 60 days.
- composting: the natural materials of diapers can be mixed with other natural waste, such as peels and garden waste. The resulting compost cannot be used for agricultural grounds because the temperature of the compost doesn’t become high enough to kill harmful microorganisms.
- fermentation: used diapers can be converted into biogas by microorganisms. This biogas can be used as fuel to generate electricity. On average, one ton of used diapers can produce 130 kWh of electricity. This is equivalent to an electric car driving about 650 km (406 miles).
Using output of thermal degradation
The seventh way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by using the output of thermal degradation. When thermal degradation involves burning diapers, the energy produced by the incineration process can be captured. But as diapers are usually wet and the resulting ash contains hazardous materials such as heavy metals, pyrolysis is more suitable. Pyrolysis involves burning diapers but without oxygen. The result is different solids, liquids, and gases, which can be used as fuel or input for other processes. For example, biochar can be used to improve soil (learn more about biochar in It’s Getting Hot: 19 Strategies That Can Help Our Planet To Cool Down).
Providing education
The eighth way baby diaper use can be made more environmentally friendly is by providing education. Education both before and after childbirth can increase parents’ knowledge about the environmental impact of diapers and teach them more environmentally friendly alternatives. There is a lot of potential here, as currently about 95% of families in Europe use disposable diapers: with 4 million babies being born in one year in Europe and each baby having a new diaper after 3 hours, this means that means 8 diapers are used per day per child. This adds up to 11.7 billion diapers per year in Europe!
Conclusion
So, the use of baby diapers can be made more environmentally friendly by using reusable diapers, using renewable or recycled materials, improving material efficiency, recycling diapers, breaking diapers down naturally, using the output of thermal degradation, and providing education.
How we can take action
Here are practical ideas of what you and I can do to make diaper use more environmentally friendly:
- Using reusable diapers
- Talking with parents about the environmental consequences of single-use diapers
Which one of these can you implement in your daily life? And do you have further ideas of what you and I could do? Thank you in advance for putting them into practice and sharing them in a comment to this question to inspire all of us.
About the author
Dr. Erlijn van Genuchten is a an internationally recognized environmental sustainability expert. She is a science communicator, helpings scientists in the fields of nature and sustainability increase the outreach of their results and allowing us all to put scientific insights into practice and contribute to a sustainable future. Erlijn has inspired thousands of people around the world — for example — by supporting the United Nations with her expertise, her book “A Guide to A Healthier Planet” published by Springer Nature, and her posts on social media.
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Credit
This article is based on the scientific publication:
