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.

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