New Study Looks at Impacts of Single-Use Menstrual Products, Baby Nappies & Wet Wipes in Europe
A new report by ReZero, Zero Waste Europe, Reloop and Break Free From Plastic details the environmental and economic impacts of single-use menstrual products, baby nappies, and wet wipes across the EU-28.
Some of the study’s key findings include:
CO2 emissions: It has been estimated that, throughout their lifecycle, single-use baby nappies and menstrual products emit approximately 3.3Mt of CO2 equivalents and 245,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year, respectively.
Waste generation: The waste generation of single-use menstrual products, baby nappies and wet wipes accounts for approximately 7,832,000 tonnes (15.3kg/cap/yr) within the EU-28. This amount of waste accounts for 3% of total municipal solid waste and 4% of the total residual municipal waste stream.
Marine litter: Single-use menstrual products and wet wipes are one of the most commonly found single-use plastic items in the marine environment (6.2% of waste collected on UK beaches or 5% of the floating waste in the Catalan coast).
Costs for municipalities: It is estimated that the cost of waste disposal for sewage debris removed from wastewater treatment plants, equates to between €500 – €1,000 million per year for the European Union.
To read the full report, click here.