PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
DISPOSABLE NAPPY WASTE (9 December 2010)

That this House notes that approximately four per cent. of all waste to landfill is disposable nappies, which equates to three billion nappies weighing 690,000 tonnes; is concerned that disposable nappies are one of the biggest identifiable products in the domestic waste stream and that a zero waste economy cannot be achieved without tackling this waste stream; is shocked that local authorities spend up to 100 million every year disposing of nappies, whereas if a child uses a real nappy then 874kg is diverted from landfill and the local authority saves up to 130 per year, meaning savings of up to 9.2 million per year on just 10 per cent. conversion rates; adds that using real nappies can help parents reduce their carbon footprint by up to 40 per cent. compared to using disposables and bring about domestic savings of up to 500 per year, achieving 35.4 million savings across the UK for families on just 10 per cent. conversion rates, and if the same nappies were used on a second child, a further 85 million would be saved; urges the Government, in these times of austerity and environmental concern, to acknowledge the impact of disposable nappies and to support the promotion of real nappies as a viable alternative; and further urges the Government to provide a clear message to parents to introduce real nappies into public service infrastructure and to provide financial support to enable existing networks to adopt a Big Society approach to providing a more balanced market with increased parental choice.

Sponsored by:
Austin Mitchell (Labour)