When the Eco-Nappies Company unveiled Naplers disposable nappies in the 1970s, consumer products manufacturers and parents considered it the product breakthrough of the decade. By the early 2010s, Eco-Nappies' Naplers range contributed over 30% to the company's annual revenues. The product has also presented consumers with a decision that has generated significant attention in recent years: which type of nappies to use - disposable or reusable? Used by environmental and consumer advocate groups as a symbol of the "throw away" mentality, disposable nappies contribute to a good proportion of Australia's yearly trash output. In an effort to deflect criticism, Eco-Nappies decided to take matters into its own hands. Early in 2015, the company commissioned SustainO'Earth Inc., an international management and technology consulting firm (based in the US) specialising in environmental issues. SustainO'Earth was asked to analyse the full range of environmental impact and to conduct a life-cycle analysis of both disposable and reusable nappies to settle the debate. Life-Cycle Analysis Life-cycle analysis (LCA) is a tool to measure and inventory the full range of environmental impacts associated with the inputs and outputs of raw materials, energy and waste during the life of a product ? from the acquisition of raw materials, material manufacture, final product fabrication, packaging and distribution, to consumer use and disposal. LCA is a total process and product mapping methodology. It is often used to compare two similar products in order to assess which is environmentally favourable. However, such a comparison presents three major difficulties. First, LCA analyses rarely determine that one product is environmentally favourable in every category of environmental impact. Second, LCA studies typically measure different sorts of things, producing results which are largely inconclusive. And third, processing the information obtained from LCA requires managers to weigh qualitative and quantitative data. Evaluations range from determining the health and environmental risks associated with a particular waste stream to choosing whether reducing air pollution is more important than reducing water pollution. Many environmentalists argue that LCA misses the point altogether. They claim that LCA and similar tools put "a badge of legitimacy on existing levels of pollution," rather than questioning whether that pollution is justifiable from society's perspective.

Nappy Life-Cycle Analysis

Researchers at SustainO'Earth began their task by determining a prototypical weight and size of both disposable and reusable nappies and gauging the weekly usage rates of each. They also mapped the life cycle of each, as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2 below.