Skin Care and Environmental Sustainability Improvements with Baby Diaper Developments


Figure 2: Reduction of Diaper Rash Severity Resulting from Disposable Diaper Innovations


10 20 30 40 50 60 70


0 Cloth Cellulose None or mild Moderate 1st generation 2nd generation 3rd generation Severe or very severe Mean rash grade


Improvement in the severity of diaper rash with different diaper technologies; 1st to 3rd generation refer to different developments in super absorber technology. Source: adapted from Adam, 2008.9


could be misleading and not actually benefit the conservation of resources or environmental protection.


Material and Weight Reduction


The technology of disposable baby diapers has advanced over the past 25 years, in particular due to the introduction of super absorbent materials and an improved core structure. Historically, diapers used fluff pulp as the sole absorbent material. Today, super absorber technology is used in virtually all disposable diapers sold throughout Europe and the world. Its introduction significantly reduced the amount of pulp needed in the absorbent core to store fluids, thus making diapers thinner and lighter as well as improving their performance. As a result, the average Pampers diaper weight has been reduced by approximately 50 %, while the average packaging weight has been reduced by approximatelty 70 % since the mid- to late 1980s (see Figure 4). Similar significant levels of weight reduction are reported for the European diaper category at the industry level.13


Manufacturing


The environmental progress on the product and packaging is closely linked to the use of fewer resources during manufacturing. Lighter and more effective baby diapers mean using reduced amounts of energy and water, and generating less waste, in the production process. For example, between 2006 and 2010, the Pampers production facilities on a global level reduced their energy consumption by 25 %, their water consumption by 30 %, their manufacturing waste by 75 % and their output of carbon dioxide by 25 % (see Figure 5).


Cloth versus Disposable Diapers


Much of the environmental discussion around baby diapers focuses on the environmental comparison between cloth (washable) baby diapers and disposable diapers. In October 2008, the UK Environment Agency published an update of its 2005 LCA study comparing cloth and disposable diapers.14


The update confirmed the findings of the


earlier study, one of them being that “there is little or no difference in terms of environmental impacts between disposable and reusable diaper systems” once all factors, including water, energy, detergent use and disposal, have been considered.


EUROPEAN OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY SUPPLEMENT


The study also demonstrates that both options show a comparably low environmental impact during their life-cycle compared with other activities. For example, the global warming potential of putting a baby in diapers for an average diapering period of 2.5 years is roughly


33


3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0


Figure 3: Improved Sleep with Pampers® Disposable Diapers


100 200 300 400 500 600


0


Total sleep time


* * *


Mean duration sleep bouts


Cloth


Total awake time


Pampers®


* p-value <0.05. Actigraph measurements of 82 Chinese children aged 5.5–6.5 months subjectively recording sleep patterns. Children using Pampers® compared with cloth diapers experienced fewer sleep interruptions, less time awake and longer bouts of uninterrupted sleep. Source: adapted from Liu et al., 2008.10


Figure 4: Average Diaper Product Weight Reduction over the Past 25 Years (Index 1987 = 100) for Pampers® Baby Diaper Products in Western Europe


100 80 60 40 20 0 1987


Mean duration awake bouts


1990 1993 1997 2001 2005 2007 2010 Average diaper weight 1987-2010


Figure 5: Reduction in Resources and Emissions in Pampers® Global Manufacturing Facilities 2006–10


Energy consumption Water consumption


Manufacturing waste


Carbon emissions


020 40 2010 60 80 2006 100 120


Mean rash grade


% infants


Percentage


Time in minutes spent in sleep (recorded via actigraph)


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40