Disposable Nappies

Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 28 June 2006.

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Photo of Sandra Gidley Sandra Gidley Shadow Minister, Health

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the time taken for a disposable nappy to decompose.

Photo of Ben Bradshaw Ben Bradshaw Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare)

The Wisard software tool used by the Environment Agency (EA) in their report, "Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the UK", assumed a 500 year time boundary for leachate in landfill. The EA therefore concluded that it would take that amount of time for the plastic part of a disposable nappy to decompose. The paper-fluff and faeces should take approximately 100 and 10 years respectively to degrade.

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