Overview
With a $128,000 grant from Sustainability Victoria, Glen Eira City Council led a coalition of 14 councils to reduce disposable nappy waste and increase the use of reusable cloth nappies.
Through The Nappy Project, 80% of participating families started using cloth nappies either full or part time. This led to a 75% reduction in waste from disposable nappies going to landfill.
Over the past 5 years, Sustainability Victoria has partnered on the ground in towns and cities across Victoria, funding councils to develop their own circular economy projects through the Circular Economy Councils Fund. Through this fund, more than 65 other initiatives like The Nappy Project are helping to cut landfill and make no waste the new normal.
The problem
Disposable nappies make up a significant portion of plastic waste entering landfill. Approximately 2 billion nappies end up in landfill every year in Australia.
According to bin audits conducted across the 14 councils participating in The Nappy Project, disposable nappy products make up between 5 and 15% of total waste going to landfill.
The solution
Initial research, commissioned by the group of councils and funded by Sustainability Victoria, explored the main barriers to using reusable nappies. They found that there was a lack of community awareness of the environmental impacts of disposable nappies, as well as little understanding of what reusable options were available.
The feasibility study research found that 72% of reusable nappy users chose what type of nappy to use before their baby was born, so expectant parents became the main audience for the education and promotions.
The Nappy Project involved:
- an education program
- a promotional campaign
- trial packs of reusable nappies for expectant parents.
