Responsible nappy disposal at your day care facility

This blog takes a look at responsible nappy disposal at your day care facility – and how can ensure you are being both legally complaint and environmentally responsible when disposing of nappy waste.

Did you know that infants require up to 10 nappies a day, and toddlers about 6?  Over a week or a month that adds up to a lot of used nappies. And then multiply this by the number of babies or toddlers in your day care facility, and you can see how the nappies will very quickly start to pile up. 

What do you do with them all?  Do you know whether you are disposing of nappy waste safely and correctly?  

Can you put your nappies in your black bin?

If you run a business that is generating more nappy waste than a domestic household – such as a creche, a pre-school, or a day care centre – you should not dispose of that nappy waste via your municipal rubbish bins.

This is because nappy waste – when generated in large volumes – is deemed to be hazardous waste: waste that contains organic or inorganic elements or compounds that may, owing to the inherent physical, chemical or toxicological properties , have a detrimental impact on health or the environment. In other words – if handled incorrectly, it would cause a risk to health and/ or environment (it is raw sewage, after all).

So how DO you dispose of disposable nappies

Nappy waste should be disposed of in dedicated nappy bins, that are collected on a regular basis by a registered waste carrier such as Initial.

Initial has a selection of modern, high-capacity nappy bins which are collected on a frequency determined by the size of your business. Nappy waste is disposed of in accordance with municipal regulations for hazardous waste.

Large volumes of nappy waste require careful handling, collection, packaging, temporary storage, transportation and ultimately disposal in order to ensure that both public health and the environment are protected.

Initial is a registered waste carrier and can therefore offer a safe and hygienic nappy bin service to ensure that nappy waste is disposed of in accordance with legislative guidelines.

What bin should I put nappies in?

Initial can offer you a choice of either a 50litre pedal bin, a pneumatic nappy waste trolley, or a nappy stand with disposable liner. Whichever of these solutions you choose, you will have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the nappy waste generated at your day care or creche has been  disposed of in accordance with municipal regulations for hazardous waste.

What happens to nappy and incontinence waste?

Read our previous blog post entitled “Sustainable waste disposal: the journey of the nappy” to find out what happens to nappies that are not disposed of correctly. The sad reality is that when large volumes of nappy waste are thrown away via the municipal waste stream, they pose a significant risk to both health and the environment.

In contrast, nappies that are collected by Initial are disposed of in accordance with municipal regulations for hazardous waste, which means that it is disposed of in Class B Hazardous sites which are not accessible to waste pickers, and are treated to prevent contamination of ground water.