CE Delft, commissioned by Rijkswaterstaat, determined the carbon footprint of the use of washable diapers at daycare centres combined with a centralised washing process. The carbon footprint was determined using a life cycle assessment (LCA), based on data from a pilot involving 30 daycare centres. The results of this analysis were compared with those of a previous LCA (also conducted by CE Delft) on the use of disposable and washable diapers in households.
The analysis shows that the use of washable diapers in daycare centres results in a 56 to 75% lower carbon footprint compared with the use of disposable diapers. For washable diapers, the carbon footprint of production and waste treatment is spread over the number of times the diapers are used (300 to 450 times), making this impact considerably lower than for disposable diapers.
The comparison between the use of washable diapers in daycare centres and in households is more complex. Centralised washing allows washing and drying conditions to be optimised. In addition, the data are relatively reliable and consistent, whereas washing in households is subject to much greater variation, for example in terms of washing machine load, use of tumble dryers, and the use of renewable energy. For the baseline scenario for households and using the average energy mix in both situations, the carbon footprint of the use of washable diapers in daycare centres is slightly higher due to the transport of diapers to and from the washing facility. If households run separate washing programmes for diapers and use inefficient equipment, washable diapers used in childcare centres have a considerably lower carbon footprint. Conversely, the carbon footprint of reusable diapers in households is lower when they are line-dried and the washing machine is fully loaded.