With the amount of nappies that the world goes through per day, why isn’t creating an environmentally friendly, compostable nappy viable?
Also nappies when used, would be full of waste products. Surely this would make it even easier for the nappy to break down?
In: Biology
The purpose of a nappy is to absorb and contain liquid. A material that doesn’t dissolve when exposed to water is not likely to break down easily for organisms trying to digest it. It’s basically the same reason we don’t have compostable plastic – the properties that make it desirable and useful are the same properties that make it difficult to decompose.
Of course, there *are* materials that decompose, like cotton. Those are just much more expensive, and easier to wash which makes them better as reusable nappies.
There’s another problem, though, which is the danger associated with human waste. It contains diseases and toxins that we don’t want to expose ourselves to if possible. Putting a lot of it into the soil to compost can contaminate that soil and increase the risk of spreading diseases. Better to either tie it up in a bag and send it off to a dedicated landfill or wash it and send it down the drain.
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