Which has less environmental impact, cloth nappies or disposables?
Life changes beyond recognition when you bring home a new baby. The last time I suffered sleep deprivation like this, I was in my late teens and twenties trying to stay awake at work after a night out on the tiles. But after a couple of weeks with my daughter I’m getting used to it. However, one thing I struggle to comprehend is the massive increase in waste and washing that a tiny baby creates.
Despite being under 4kg, this small human being has probably doubled our household waste output. In addition I am now washing almost every day to maintain a supply of clothes, wraps and blankets which haven’t been either vomited or poo’d on.
We made great plans to research and get hold of reusable and eco-friendly nappies ready for the baby, but time ran out before we had the chance and we grabbed the first ones we could get hold of when we swung past the supermarket on the way home from hospital.
But now that things have settled down a bit, I have had a chance to look into the environmental impacts of the various types of nappies available and got to grips with how to ensure that the environmental impacts are minimised.
When you think that an average baby has its nappy changed up to 5000 times before potty-training, its not hard to understand how our choices in this area can have a hefty impact on a landfill site somewhere.
Here’s the scoop. Nappies generally come in two main types, these are:
- Traditional terry towelling and modern cloth nappies – Modern cloth nappies include all-in-ones, and shaped pocket cloth nappies, where absorbent liners (washable or disposable) are added to shaped nappies.
- Disposable nappies – These all need to be disposed of after one use, but there are also a number of ‘eco-friendly’ brands available which have entered the market in recent years.
The comparative impact of disposable and reusable nappies has been hotly debated. I have put together a comparison table below giving the key impacts from the two systems and also the results of extensive peer reviewed studies undertaken in 2008.
| Issue | Disposables |
Cloth |
| Description | Plastic outer layer with integral fastenings and a core of absorbent materials with a protective top layer. The nappy core is composed of fluff pulp (cellulose fibre) with a water-absorbent polymer, (SAP) sodium polyacrylate. Waist elastics and Velcro like materials hold the nappy in place on the baby. The different materials in the nappies are glued together with polymer-based adhesives. The packaging consists of polyethylene plastic bags. Source Environment Agency 2008. |
Made from materials including nylon, polyester, cotton, wool, PVC, hemp, bamboo and polyurethanes. In combination with the nappies, liners and booster pads can be used. Both come in reusable and disposable forms. |
| Raw material | Bleached wood pulp, chlorine, plastics and polymers (from crude oil), SAP. | Organic cotton, hemp or bamboo are among the more environmentally friendly options. Traditional cotton requires the use of pesticides and significant amounts of water to grow. Disposable boosters will have similar raw materials to disposable nappies. Plastic also required for some liners. |
| Manufacture and transport | The environmental impacts associated with the manufacture of disposable nappies has reduced in recent years. Manufacturing impacts are reduced through selection of more eco-friendly brands which source pulp from local and sustainable sources and where bleaching is avoided. The type of plastic used will also influence the manufacturing impacts. | Due to the smaller number of nappies needed from birth to potty training, the impacts associated with manufacture and transport are lower for reusables. |
| Waste | Disposable nappies make their way to landfill as they are disposed of in the general waste. There has been a 40% reduction in the volume of material used in nappies in the last 15 years, partly due to the use of absorbent gel which does not rot. Disposable nappies can take up to 500 years to completely decompose. Decomposing nappies release greenhouse gases. | Poo and disposable nappy liners are flushed down the loo. Wastewater from the washing process also enters the sewerage system. Unlike disposables waste generally does not enter the solid waste stream. |
| Cost | Depending on the brand the cost varies from around 40-80c per nappy. This is an ongoing cost until the child is out of nappies. | Up front costs are high with nappies costing $20-30 each. At least 15 nappies are required if you are only using cloth nappies. Other costs come from the use of electricity, water and detergent required for washing. |
| Use | Disposable nappies are single use nappies and are generally either disposed of directly into the general waste, or placed in nappy sacks and disposed of. | The behaviour of the user affects the amount of energy, greenhouse gases, detergent and chemicals used and pollution produced during use. This has the most significant affect on the comparative impacts of disposable and reusable nappies. |
| Water use | Disposables require no water for use. | Water use is significant. The exact amount depends on the behaviour of the user, in terms of how often the nappies are washed, the size of the load and whether the nappies are pre-soaked. |
So which approach is more environmentally friendly?
As you might expect, it is how the reusable nappies are washed and dried which determines how they stack up against disposables and there are a number of things that can be done to make sure the impact of nappies is minimised.
The UK’s Environment Agency has undertaken detailed lifecycle assessments to determine the comparative impacts of traditional cloth nappies, shaped nappies, disposables and commercial nappy systems. The latest study, published in October 2008, identified that the environmental impacts of using reusable nappies can be higher or lower than using disposables, depending on how they are laundered. This is because the main impacts from reusable nappies is from the electricity consumption in washing and drying nappies.
Reusable nappies could have the most beneficial environmental profile where the user employs environmentally efficient behaviour such as washing on full loads in an efficient washing machine, and line drying. Where the user washes small loads, in high temperatures and tumble dries them 100% of the time disposables are likely to provide the lower environmental impacts.
So, providing you employ environmentally friendly behaviour it would appear that reusable nappies have the least environmental impacts.
With this new found knowledge I have placed orders for a range of eco friendly disposables and reusable nappies to experiment with. The next instalment will include information on the progress!
See our Tips on limiting impacts associated with nappies.
Check our Product Listings to review environmentally friendly nappy brands.
