Eliminating rubbish
For every 1,000 girls who use our napkins, for the expected four-year lifespan of our napkins, we can potentially stop 1,300,000 disposable napkins and their packaging from being dumped, burned or buried (One girl x 5 disposable napkins x 5 days x 13 menstrual cycles per year x 4 years = 1,300 napkins).
Kayoko found that many girls only use two napkins per day and we encourage them to use more, which is difficult for them if they do not have toilets at school. The US Government health recommendations for the use of sanitary pads say to "change the sanitary pad every few hours, no matter how light the flow. Change them more frequently if your period is heavy."[1]
We'd rather see 5 reusable napkins being used than 1300 disposable ones.
Rubbish
Rubbish disposal is a huge problem in India. Rubbish is dumped everywhere, and can build up for hundreds of meters on roadsides on the outskirts of towns. When part of a city garbage 'mountain' catches fire, it can burn for days, releasing toxic chemicals into the air. There are challenges to infrastructure capacity, segregation, handling and allocation of finances for future improvements.
Waste Picking
A lot of the women in the slums pick recyclables off of the huge rubbish dumps for a living - one rubbish dump is 26 stories high - and this work is both dangerous and illegal. Others pick and sort rags and are some of the poorest in India. Many children start rubbish picking with their families when they have either dropped out of or have never been to school. They learn to collect, segregate and sell rubbish to support their family.
Women and children who work as waste pickers have to contend with unwrapped used sanitary napkins when they are sifting through garbage dumps to find recyclables. The Hindustan Times reports that "Waste pickers separate out soiled napkins from recyclable items by hand, exposing themselves to micro-organisms like E.Coli, salmonella, staphylococcus, HIV and pathogens that cause hepatitis and tetanus".[2]
A young waste picker.
Waste pickers.
Disposal
In India, sanitary napkins are sold as 'medical products' and are not legally required to list their contents so it is difficult to ascertain if there is plastic in them and whether they need to be incinerated or if they are biodegradable or compostable.
Used napkins are disposed of in dustbins, burned, buried, flushed down toilets, thrown away in open spaces, drains, rivers, wells, lakes or roadsides, and some are incinerated properly at extremely high temperatures. However, for some women burning/incinerating napkins is forbidden because of the cultural belief that it will harm family members or her reproductive ability. Others are not comfortable using dustbins because they think it might bring disgrace on them if a waste collector notices the napkins.
Kayoko spoke to women in a slum in Himachal Pradesh who buy large single-use napkins which they bury after use.
Single use napkin.
Small slum in Himachal Pradesh.
The disposable sanitary napkins which are made with superabsorbent polymers (SAP) clog toilets and sewer pipes and add to pollution when they end up in waterways and the ocean. The SAP absorb water causing the napkins to swell and create blockages in plumbing and sewerage drains, and sanitary workers, plumbers and cleaners jeopardise their health when they fix the problems.
Small incinerators are becoming popular in schools and homes but they bring their own set of challenges. The Stockholm Convention guidelines recommend temperatures >850°C for best environmental practices and to limit the levels of dioxins and furans in air emission.[3] In the internet search that we did for small home and school incinerators, we couldn’t find one that listed the cut-off temperature and most of them caution against depositing plastic. Incomplete burning results in a host of air emissions problems and the resulting ash could contain residues of heavy metals and chlorinated organic chemicals, such as dioxins, arsenic, lead and nickel.[4]
Kayoko has taken these photos on her travels in India.
Rubbish by the roadside.
Rubbish in the waterway.
[1] Menstrual Hygiene, https://www.cdc.gov/hygiene/personal-hygiene/menstrual.html, Last Reviewed: May 26, 2023, viewed on 30/01/2024
[2] Ladies, be careful when you throw away the sanitary napkin, https://www.hindustantimes.com/health-and-fitness/ladies-be-careful-when-you-throw-away-the-sanitary-napkin/story-YnbqET6IzriWOy1Y8rFS8N.html, viewed on 12/04/20244
[3] Safe management of wastes from health-care activities https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/85349/9789241548564_eng.pdf?sequence=1, Page 121 viewed on 12/04/2024
[4] Sanitary Waste Management in India https://www.cseindia.org/content/downloadreports/11282, Page 30, viewed on 12/04/2024