Landfills swamped by 300 million nappies a year

UP TO 300 million disposable nappies are swamping Irish landfills every year, according to latest figures.

It is estimated that disposable nappies make up 5% of domestic waste, yet there has been very little promotion of alternatives in this country.

Statistics show that there are 166,000 children aged three and under living in this country and each of these children will use five nappies a day - that’s around 1,825 per year each or around 5,475 before they are toilet-trained.

Friends of the Earth has called on the Government to tackle the mounting nappy problem, saying that most people in the country can’t access a cloth nappy laundering service or are unaware of the availability of recyclable nappies.

Its director, Oisín Coghlan, said: “If we’re seriously looking to reduce our waste, we should be tackling this area as disposable nappies are a considerable element of landfills. Other countries have made efforts to tackle this area and there are initiatives, such as local authority nappy laundering services, where parents can be green but also have some of the ease of disposable nappies.”

Green party spokesman on the environment Ciarán Cuffe said that there should be an awareness campaign around compostable nappies and that local authority nappy laundering schemes in Britain “showed imagination”.

Local authorities in Britain are paying parents up to £80 to swap disposables for cloth nappies for six months and use local nappy laundering services where their used goods are collected, washed and returned regularly.

Even though they are paying monthly for the collection and laundry service, it’s estimated they still save hundreds per year compared to the cost of disposables.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment yesterday said they had no specific policy in this area, but they do encourage people to reduce waste.

“We encourage people to use recyclable nappies or else a nappy laundering service if they have one in their area,” a spokeswoman said.