The role of real nappies and nappy laundering services in a Zero
Waste strategy
A Green Party report for Real
Nappy Week, March-April 2004
Contact Green Party press office, 020 7561 0282
Preface by Dr Molly Scott Cato
1.
Introduction
2. The problem with disposable nappies
Notes
Useful sources of information
The Green vision for the future
includes the development of a Zero Waste economy.
Recent Green Party research has
shown that if the UK adopted a Zero Waste strategy, as some other parts of the
world have done, we could create 50,000 extra jobs in waste management, while
reducing our contribution to climate change and securing environmental and
quality-of-life benefits through the phasing out of waste incineration and
landfill.
Disposable nappies form a
particular kind of challenge in waste management terms. They take hundreds of
years to decompose, and every year the UK generates some three billion of them,
which constitutes perhaps 4% of our domestic waste.
Reusable nappies have improved
drastically in recent years, and work out much cheaper for parents than
disposables do. But many parents aren’t aware of this.
This report shows some of the
options for government action to increase the use of real nappies. For example,
supplying all parents with free real nappies would cost just £86 million a year
– the equivalent of £2.88 on the average annual tax bill. But it would generate
savings to parents of £360 million a year, well over four times the initial
investment.
Alternatively, supplying all
parents with free nappies and a free nappy laundering service would generate
savings for parents of almost £600 million a year, compared with buying
disposables. This would require a much larger investment – the equivalent of a
£26 increase on the average tax bill. But it would also stimulate a whole new
local industry in nappy laundering, which would create sustainable local jobs
and would stimulate local economic regeneration in which the money would stay
with the community rather than benefitting the big multinational companies that
make disposable nappies.
The Green Party stands for
progress. Dumping three billion disposable nappies into landfill sites every year
is not progress. And as landfill sites disappear, it isn’t sustainable in any
sense. Instead we should be reducing our waste mountain. We should be making it
easier for people to avoid generating so much waste. We should have a Zero
Waste strategy, with all the economic and environmental benefits it would
bring. That would be Real Progress.
1. Introduction
1.1 “Real” nappies are reusable
nappies, which can be washed and used many times, as opposed to disposable
nappies, which are worn once and then thrown away. Real nappies have been
improved a lot in recent years, and parents can buy different types to suit
their needs. Many local businesses offering nappy laundry services have sprung
up, and while using these may cost more than washing the nappies at home they
suit parents who are short of time or drying space.
1.2 Although the
initial outlay is higher, using real nappies saves money for both parents and
taxpayers [1]. Some people prefer to use real nappies because they work out
cheaper, some because they are concerned for the environment, and some parents
use real nappies because they believe they are better for their babies’
well-being.
2. The problem with disposable nappies
2.1 Some
proponents of disposable nappies claim that using real nappies is not better
for the environment. Manufacturers of disposables claim they are no worse for
the environment because real nappies use up electricity in the laundering
process. But in fact, the Women’s Environmental network won a case against Procter
& Gamble before the Advertising Standards Authority for making claims to
that effect, and Procter & Gamble are banned from make such claims in the
future. The simple fact is that while the energy used in laundering could one
day come from zero-emissions, renewable resources, disposable nappies will
always need to be disposed of either by landfill or incineration.
2.2 In fact,
disposable nappies are much worse in environmental terms [2]:
a.
They use 3.5 times more energy than real
nappies to produce.
b.
They use 8 times more non-regenerable
materials.
c.
They use 90 times more renewable resources.
d.
They generate 60 times more solid waste.
e.
They require 4 times the land for growing
the natural materials used in nappy production.
3.1 The average
baby has their nappy changed around 5000
times before being potty trained. It costs about £1000 to buy this many disposables.
3.2 Using cotton
nappies rather than disposables saves roughly £600 for a first child, and £800 for
a second child if parents use the same cotton nappies again [3].
3.3 Nearly 3
billion nappies are thrown away in the UK every year. About 90% of these end up
in landfill [4].
3.4 Estimates
vary, but disposable nappies are reckoned to represent between 2.5% and 5% of
household waste. Assuming a figure of 4%, the disposal cost of nappies to the
UK taxpayer is around £40 million each year [5].
3.5 If the average
cotton nappy costs £2, and the average parent needs 24 nappies, then the cost
of providing a baby with a year’s supply of nappies would be £48.
4.1 Many local
councils offer a subsidy scheme to parents who use real nappies. This is due to
the high cost of landfill, as well as the need to meet the EU Landfill
Directive. However, these schemes vary widely across the country – some have
been set up as a temporary publicity effort, some apply over a longer period,
some apply to the first few nappies, some apply to the nappy laundering
service. The Green Party’s 2003 elections briefing on Zero Waste advised local
councillors to push for subsidised nappy laundering services. There is a clear
financial incentive for this if it reduces waste disposal costs. To put it
another way, it’s a different way of spending the money, but it’s more
efficient because it eliminates some of the adverse side-effects mentioned
above.
4.2 If individuals
need to find out what subsidies are being offered in their area, most local
authorities have a waste minimisation officer who can advise them. Some local
authorities have commissioned research into how many nappies are thrown away in
their area, and what this costs the council.
4.3 Examples of
subsidies currently offered to encourage use of real nappies include [6]:
Camden Borough Council will reimburse £35 against the cost of joining a nappy laundering
service.
Carmarthenshire County Council offers a free trial pack.
Cheshire County Council will reimburse £25 against the cost of cotton nappies, or will
pay for one month’s free nappy laundering.
Cornwall County Council offers an interest-free loan to help parents buy real nappies.
Essex County Council will reimburse £10 against the cost of cotton nappies.
Kent County Council spends £100 every year on nappy subsidies through quarterly
competitions.
Leicestershire County council will reimburse £30 against the cost of cotton nappies during Real
Nappy Week only.
Lewisham Council is offering a real nappy starter kit worth £75 as a prize during
Real Nappy Week only.
Manchester City Council will reimburse £33.60 against the cost of joining a nappy
laundering service.
Oxfordshire County Council will reimburse £30 against the cost of joining a nappy laundering
service.
Staffordshire County Council and South Staffordshire Council will reimburse up to £30 against
the cost of cotton nappies.
Warwickshire County Council will reimburse £25 against the cost of cotton nappies.
West Sussex County Council will reimburse £30 against the cost of cotton nappies.
4.4 Clearly
current efforts are more or less tokenistic, and in any case fall far short of
the potential.
5.1 A case could
be made for much stronger support for reusable nappies out of public funds:
a.
It is reasonable to spend money to reduce
environmental costs as a matter of public policy.
b.
It is sound economics to reduce waste
disposal costs by investing in alternatives.
c.
It is a standard aspect of economic
regeneration that investment can be targetted on local job-creation. Nappy
laundering services are organised locally.
d.
Wealth redistribution through subsidies of
various kinds can serve the progressive social agenda.
5.2 Although in
one sense subsidising reusable nappies and/or nappy laundering services would
constitute a subsidy from childless people to parents, in another sense it
would be a benefit conferred equally to every citizen while they are a child.
It would therefore be socially equitable in that sense. Those paying higher
rates of tax would of course be paying a higher proportion of the cost, so such
a policy would be redistributive.
5.3 If the
government paid to provide real nappies for every new baby, it would cost the
taxpayer £28.8 million a year [7]. To provide real nappies for every child
needing them – some three times this number -
would cost approximately £86.4 million a year.
5.4 On the above
figures (compared with a scenario in which all parents used disposable nappies)
if all parents used real nappies, provided free by the state, and washed them
at home, a public investment of £86.4 million a year would have the following
effects:
a.
A saving to parents of £360 million a year
[8].
b.
A saving to the public of £40 million a year
for disposal costs.
c.
A £2.88 increase on the average annual tax
bill [9].
5.5 If the
government paid for nappy laundering services for every new baby this would
cost the taxpayer £262 million a year. To extend this to every child needing
nappies (assuming all children throughout the first three years of life used
real nappies and a nappy laundering service) would cost approximately £786
million a year [10].
5.6 On the above
figures, if all parents instead of using disposable nappies used a nappy
laundering service, provided free by the state (including the cost of real
nappies), a public investment of £786 million a year would have the following
effects:
a.
A saving to parents of £594 million a year
[11].
b.
A saving to the public of £40 million a year
for disposal costs.
c.
A £26.20 increase on the average annual tax
bill [12].
5.7 A combination
of the above options would be possible. For example, parents could be offered
either:
a.
Vouchers entitling them to a free supply of
reusable nappies, or
b.
A
subsidy of 50% of the cost of a nappy laundering service.
5.8 In this
scenario, supposing half of all parents took up one offer and half the other,
the cost would be £240 million a year [13] and the effects would be:
a.
A saving to parents of almost £330 million a
year [14].
b.
A saving to the public of £40 million a year
for disposal costs.
c.
An increase of £8 on the average annual tax
bill [15].
5.9 The investment
would have an additional benefit in terms of stimulating local business and
creating local jobs. We do not have figures for job-creation, but it is
entirely safe to assume a net increase and probably a large net increase, as
nappy laundering services could be expected to be more labour-intensive than
mass-production of disposable nappies. Any job losses in waste disposal would
be more than compensated for by other aspects of the Zero Waste strategy.
Support
system
|
Annual cost (£ million) |
Annual addition to average tax bill (£)
|
Annual saving to parents (£ million) |
Annual saving in disposal costs (£ million) |
|
Free nappies for all 1.8m children |
86.4 |
2.88 |
360 |
40 |
|
Free nappy laundering service for all 1.8m children |
786 |
26.20 |
594 |
40 |
|
Free nappies for 0.9m children + 50% subsidy to nappy laundering
service for 0.9m children |
239.7 |
8 |
328.5 |
40 |
5.10 From Table 1
above it can be seen that:
a.
The “free nappies” scenario is the cheapest,
costing the average taxpayer £2.88, creating savings for parents and waste
authorities of over 4 times the investment.
b.
The “free nappy laundering” scenario is the
most expensive, costing the average taxpayer £26.20 a year, but also generating
the largest savings for parents (£594 million), though the savings only
rerpresent 81% of the investment.
c.
A hybrid system in which parents are offered
the choice of either free nappies for home washing, or 50% of the cost of nappy laundering (including free nappies),
would cost the average taxpayer £8 a year and would generate savings more than
50% greater than the investment.
6.1 The Green
Party is committed to a Zero Waste strategy. By 2020 we want all waste to be
reused, recycled or composted. The
fewer disposable nappies that are used, the closer we come to that target.
Indeed, in a Zero Waste economy there would be no disposable nappies unless manufacturers
had managed to design a fully biodegradable (ie truly disposable!) nappy that
could be treated alongside municipal sewage, with fertiliser as an end-product.
6.2 The Green
Party is concerned that the government and local authorities, just as they do
not have Zero Waste strategies, do not take the issue of real nappies seriously
enough. Nor have they taken adequate steps to promote the use of real nappies.
Conversely, new parents are given starter kits by companies who promote
disposable nappies, and health authorities collude in this by allowing
disposables to be distributed free to new mothers in hospital.
6.3 The Green Party therefore proposes the following action plan:
Health authorities should:
a. Ensure that prenatal advice and training includes awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of reusable nappies.
b. Encourage parents to consider using real nappies.
Local authorities should:
a.
Promote schemes that increase the use of
real nappies to the extent that funding permits.
b.
Lobby their local health authority as above.
c.
Develop a local Zero Waste strategy.
d.
Lobby central government to develop a
national Zero Waste strategy.
The government should:
a.
Develop a Zero Waste strategy.
b.
Immediately produce an action plan including
targets for the reduction in disposable nappy waste, to be incorporated into
its Zero Waste strategy.
c.
Commission thorough and detailed research
into the options for using public investment to facilitate use of real nappies.
1.
The cost of real nappies, including
laundering, is estimated at £130-£150 a year: Sue Wilson, www.startinbusiness.co.uk/nappy/pr.htm;
http://www.nottsnappyproject.org.uk/Cost.htm.
2. Figures from www.thenappylady.co.uk/Information/Article.asp?ArticleID=25.
3. Figures from www.nottsnappyproject.org.uk/.
4. Figures from www.wen.org.uk .
5. Reusable nappies ultimately have disposal costs too. However, the
natural fibres of which they are made would be compostable and the accompanying
plastic pants recyclable. Therefore they can be seen as of neutral value in a
Zero Waste economy.
6. Research by Green Party press office, 26.3.04.
7. There were 596,122 babies born in England & Wales in 2002 (the
latest available figures). Assuming 600,000 new babies per year, at £2 per real
nappy, 24 nappies per child, the annual cost of real nappies would be £28.8
million.
8. The Nottinghamshire Nappy Project at http://www.nottsnappyproject.org.uk/Cost.htm
calculates a £200 annual saving for a parent using real nappies and washing
them at home compared with a parent buying disposables. £200 x 1.8 million
children = £360 million a year.
9. £86.4 million divided by 30 million taxpayers = £2.88.
10. Based on a charge from the Cottontails service offered in
conjunction with a Manchester city council project (see www.manchester.gov.uk/environment/realnappyoffer),
£8.40 a week x 52 weeks = £436.80 per baby per year x 600,000 babies = £262,080,000 a year. If extended to all
children throughout the first three years of life, x 3 = £786,240,000.
11. £330 a year cost of disposables x 1.8 million children = £594
million.
12. £786 million divided by 30 million taxpayers = £26.20.
13. From the above figures: £43.2 million for reusable nappies for
900,000 children. £196.5 million for a 50% subsidy to nappy laundering for
900,000 children. Total £239.7 million.
14. Half of the above £360 million saving if all parents converted
from disposables to reusables = £180 million. Half of the above £594 million
saving if all parents converted from disposables to a nappy laundering service
divided by 2 (because half of parents would have the subsidy) divided by 2
again (because they would have only 50% of the costs paid) = £148.5 million.
£180 million + £148.5 million = £328.5 million.
For the 50%
subsidy to nappy laundering for 900,000 children: assuming a weekly cost of
£8.40 per child, x 52 weeks = £436.80 per child per year, divided by 2 (because
only 50% of the cost met by the public) = £218.40 per child per year, x 900,000
children = £196,560,000 a year. For the above costs of providing reusable
nappies for 900,000 children = £43,200,000.
The Nappy Lady, www.thenappylady.co.uk
Nappy Information
Service, http://www.nappyinformationservice.co.uk/
National
Association of Nappy Services, http://www.changeanappy.co.uk/
Notts Nappy
Project, www.nottsnappyproject.org.uk
The Real Nappy
Association, www.realnappy.com/
The Women’s
Environmental Network, www.wen.org.uk