Waste management and environmental impact of absorbent hygiene products : A review

Absorbent hygiene products (AHP) have received much interest due to the notion that their end-of-life (EoL) stage has high environmental impacts. Since the use of AHP will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, information that helps with a reduction in the environmental impacts of AHP through...

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Veröffentlicht in:Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA. - 1991. - 39(2021), 6 vom: 06. Juni, Seite 767-783
1. Verfasser: Velasco Perez, Maribel (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Sotelo Navarro, Perla Xochitl, Vazquez Morillas, Alethia, Espinosa Valdemar, Rosa María, Hermoso Lopez Araiza, Jéssica Paola
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2021
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA
Schlagworte:Journal Article Review Absorbent polymers biodegradation extended producer responsibility nappies policy tools sanitary pads Solid Waste
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Absorbent hygiene products (AHP) have received much interest due to the notion that their end-of-life (EoL) stage has high environmental impacts. Since the use of AHP will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, information that helps with a reduction in the environmental impacts of AHP through their life cycle is needed. This research presents an estimation of AHP in municipal waste, and it also reviews and discusses waste management options, available treatments at bench, pilot or full scale, and life cycle assessments (LCAs) available in the literature. Municipal waste of countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development contains on average 2.7% of baby nappies, 4.8% of adult nappies and 0.5% of sanitary pads (in weight), whereas that of Latin-American countries have 7.3%, 3.3%, and 0.9%, respectively. Management options for AHP waste in developed countries are landfilling and incineration, while in developing countries AHP are disposed of in dumpsites and landfills. Most LCAs identify significant environmental impacts in the production of raw materials, while EoL scenarios involving incineration and landfill were found to have a significant contribution to global warming potential. Substitution with alternative products has been suggested as a way of decreasing environmental impacts; however, their use frequently causes a trade-off on different impact categories. Municipalities could use a wide range of policy tools, such as extended producer responsibility systems, bans, levies, ecolabelling, or a combination of these, to reduce the environmental and economic burden of AHP waste
Beschreibung:Date Completed 08.07.2021
Date Revised 08.07.2021
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status MEDLINE
ISSN:1096-3669
DOI:10.1177/0734242X20954271