The Nappy Alliance has welcomed government support for reducing the environmental footprint of disposable nappies and has called for a clear and timely approach to promote take up of reusable nappies.
Environment secretary Michael Gove MP recently told a Conservative Party conference fringe event that he was committed to reducing plastic waste and that, as part of this, the government is considering measures to reduce the use of disposable nappies.
“From an industry point of view, it’s good to see the impact of disposable nappies being discussed within Government,” said chair of the Nappy Alliance and founder and managing director of Bambino Mio, Guy Schanschieff. “We want to be clear that, even as a reusable nappy alliance, we don’t think that disposables should be banned because we understand they serve a purpose for many parents. What’s important here is that we can make a difference by reducing the number of disposables used and by making reusable nappies more mainstream, ensuring that they are easily available.”
“Widescale use of reusable nappies can dramatically reduce the amount of plastic entering our waste system and ending up in landfill. Reusables are easy to use, and do not contain chemicals which may come into contact with the baby’s skin,” he continued. “Because cloth nappies can be used again and again they can also help parents save a significant amount of money in the first few years of a child’s life.”
The average baby uses 4,000 nappies up to potty training (weighing up to 120kg), the majority of which will go to landfill – that’s 8 million of them every single day in the UK alone.
