Article written by Jim Wright
Disposable diapers: convenient, but a waste management challenge?
Discarded diapers beside a road in Kisumu
Several studies and recent market research reports point to increasing uptake of disposable diapers (nappies) for collecting children’s faeces in many developing country cities due to changing urban lifestyles, increased awareness of hygiene, and increased demand for sanitary products.
Though diapers are largely considered a hygienic and convenient means of faecal disposal, managing used diaper waste present a complex set of challenges to both households and city authorities. This is because as diapers are made from a mix of polypropylene and polyethylene plastic sheets, cellulose and a superabsorbent polymer to absorb urine. The plastic layers mean used diapers do not break down easily in the environment.
The public health risks that they pose also presents problems for waste collectors looking to separate waste for recycling. In addition, nappy management practices among caregivers have been found to be predictors for skin diseases such as dermatitis among children. We therefore conducted a nappy use survey among mothers in urban Greater Accra and Kisumu in Kenya to understand how far households lacking waste collection services were using disposable diapers.
How widespread is disposable diaper use and dumping of used diapers?
To answer our objectives, we interviewed 200 mothers or children’s carers attending Child Welfare Clinics (CWCs) in government, private and faith-based health facilities serving wealthy and poorer areas of Greater Accra and a similar number in Kisumu. We asked about their use and disposal of diapers.
An enumerator interviewing a mother at a CWC in Accra
Signpost of a selected health facility
What we found
In Greater Accra, we found that 93% of mothers or carers were using disposable diapers in some way. However, among those using disposable diapers, only 10% reported disposing of used diapers via methods where the diapers could cause environmental problems such as burning, dumping or burying. We also found some reported purchasing nappies individually rather than as bulk purchases. Among poorer households, this phenomenon of households only being able to afford to buy small quantities of goods is sometimes called a ‘kadogo’ (meaning small in Kiswahili) economy.
This broad pattern – widespread disposable diaper use but a relatively low proportion of unsafe diaper disposal with some individual nappy purchases – follows what we found when analysing national household survey data collected by government. However, there are signs that our survey participants may be somewhat wealthier than a typical cross-section of households in Greater Accra. Many also reported wrapping nappies in plastic prior to disposal, which potentially reduces the faecal contamination risks for waste collectors but of course introduces more plastics into the waste stream. Such behaviour is not something that would be captured through a national household survey. Nonetheless, our own survey of children’s mothers and carers and our analysis of national household surveys do seem to paint the same broad picture.
Overall, it suggests that much like water sold in plastic bags or bottles, a solution to a WASH [Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene] challenge (i.e. sanitation for young children) is generating waste management problems. For us, this reinforces the case for closer linkages between solid waste management and WASH to tackle this dilemma.
