Joint research by the University of Queensland (UQ) and Southern Cross University has found that adult incontinence products are a far bigger waste problem than baby nappies.
Researchers believe that as the population ages, the situation will become worse in the next decade.
The study found waste from adult incontinence products would outnumber infant nappies between four and 10 times by 2030. It called for a multi-pronged approach towards better waste management.
Co-author, Kate O’Brien from UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering, has been investigating the environmental life-cycle of baby nappies for more than a decade.
“There’s lots of discussion about the environmental impact of babies’ nappies, but our study shows that adult absorbent hygiene products presents a larger and faster growing waste issue,” Professor O’Brien said.
“This study is about opening-up the conversation to how we can better manage waste and consider other solutions.”
She said most used disposable nappies were sent to landfill, producing greenhouse gases and leachate (water) emissions. However, while the waste from infant nappies would likely remain constant over the next decade, the waste from adult products would increase.
Lead author and Southern Cross University Environmental Engineer, Emma Thompson Brewster said while more absorbent hygiene products brands were presenting as environmentally-friendly, all were sidestepping the elephant in the room.
“The burden on parents to choose the ‘best’ nappy product for their infants places unnecessary stress on many Australian parents, at a time while they are already experiencing the many stresses of raising small children,” Dr Thompson Brewster said.
“Used adult absorbent hygiene products receive far less public attention, but have comparable or greater impact on our community health, environmental health and taxpayers.”
The research recommends reducing the stigma around adult incontinence and increasing access to health services, creating affordable and accessible biodegradable products for infants and adults, and designing policies, systems and infrastructure to divert used waste from landfill into resource recovery processes.
