Nappy Waste Guide
Around three billion nappies are thrown away across the UK every year. They make up between 2 and 3% of all household waste in the country too. Many businesses deal with nappy waste in their baby changing facilities and bathrooms. It’s an unavoidable waste stream but requires safe and responsible management.
Knowing how to dispose of nappies properly is important as they can take up to 500 years to break down in landfill. Improper storage, management, and disposal of nappies in your business could also cause exposure to such offensive waste and have a negative environmental impact.
Learn what to do with old nappies and how to dispose of them responsibly from your business or household with these answers to common questions.
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How to dispose of nappies
Follow these steps to dispose of nappies as a business:
- Place nappy waste bins in any baby changing facilities, customer bathrooms, or other areas where someone may need to get rid of a used nappy.
- Ensure nappy bins are emptied regularly to avoid overflowing. This could be in a bigger bin outside or in your bin storage area.
- Keep nappies separate from other waste materials to avoid contamination and use secure units and bins to reduce the risk of exposure.
- Arrange regular collection by licensed waste carriers of nappy waste from your business. They’ll transport it to an appropriate facility for disposal.
- Ensure you receive a duty of care certificate or waste transfer note that details who removed the nappy waste, when, where it was taken, and the disposal method.
To dispose of nappies at home you should put them in your general waste bin.
Do you need a nappy bin?
Businesses that produce any amount of nappy waste should have a bin in place to store it safely and separately from other waste materials. This often includes companies with baby changing facilities (such as shops, restaurants, and leisure centres). You may only need one nappy bin depending on your size and facilities.
The likes of nurseries and hospitals require many nappy bins to store used nappies securely. They’ll generate high volumes of old nappies so need appropriate bins in place. Explore our range of nappy waste bins to find suitable options for your business.
Are nappies hazardous waste?
Nappies are not hazardous waste. Nappies class as non-hazardous clinical waste or sanitary waste in most cases when businesses need to arrange collection, removal, and disposal. They’re often referred to as offensive waste too – as they normally have an unpleasant sight and smell but are not hazardous.
Can nappies go in general waste?
At home you can put nappies in domestic general waste bins. However, for businesses, it’s against the law to place any nappy waste in domestic bins. Instead, it should go in specific nappy bins, sanitary bins, or non-hazardous clinical waste bags or bins for appropriate disposal. This helps avoid more nappy waste in landfill.
What happens to nappy waste?
What happens to nappy waste depends on where it goes at the end of its life. The bin it’s placed in (such as a domestic general waste bin or specific commercial nappy bin), also affects what happens to it. These are the main ways that nappy waste is disposed of:
- Landfill – unfortunately, lots of nappy waste goes to landfill sites in the UK. Nappies thrown in household general waste bins may get sent to landfill depending on the council. At Business Waste, we keep all nappy waste away from landfill.
- Incineration – the main alternative to landfill for nappy waste is incineration. Nappies are burned and destroyed, which saves landfill space but still releases carbon emissions that damage the environment.
- Energy from waste – some nappies are incinerated at energy from waste plants where the energy from burning them is captured and used.
- Biodegradation – there are many biodegradable nappies on the market designed to break down naturally. However, they can still take hundreds of years to decompose in landfill so must go to specialist facilities to be effective.
- Recycling – cloth nappies can be cleaned and reused or recycled. If you’ve cleaned them yourself you can recycle the nappies with other textile recycling within your business or from home take them to a local textile recycling point.
How often should nappy bins be emptied?
Regular emptying of nappy bins is vital to prevent an unpleasant smell and unhygienic conditions from developing. It’s recommended that nappy bins are emptied at least every three days. However, you may need to empty your nappy bins more often if such waste builds up quickly or your bin is close to being full.
Do you need a nappy bin with cloth nappies?
As a business, you still need to provide and use nappy bins for cloth nappies. Biodegradable, recyclable, and disposable nappies should all be stored in a nappy bin as they all class as sanitary and non-hazardous waste. Even though cloth nappies can be recycled with textiles, as a type of offensive waste they should be stored with other nappies first.
Are nappy bins a good idea?
Any business that provides bathroom and baby changing facilities should have nappy bins as they offer a safe and hygienic way to store nappy waste. They make it easy to separate waste types and avoid contamination. Plus, with secure lids it’s a safe and simple way to hold nappy waste before collection and to reduce smells escaping.
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Published 20th March 2025 by Graham Matthews.