CLOTH DIAPER SERVICE

Revision Date: 5/00
Process Code: Navy/Marines: N/A; Air Force: N/A; Army: N/A
Usage: Navy: Medium; Marines: Medium;Army: Low; Air Force: Low
Compliance Impact: Low
Alternative for: Disposable Diapers
Applicable EPCRA Targeted Constituents: N/A
Overview: An alternative to using disposable diapers is to contract with a diaper service to take away the soiled diapers and deliver clean diapers. Cloth diapers can be as convenient as disposable diapers when a diaper service is employed.

The most cost effective way to reduce the quantity of disposable diapers in the waste stream is to educate base residents on the benefits of using cloth diapers. Diaper services usually deliver and pick up diapers once a week. The diaper does not need to be pre-soaked or treated in any way. The soiled diaper is taken off the baby, put into the hamper, and picked up by the service.

The use of cloth diapers is easily implemented and offers a unique pollution prevention strategy. Disposable diapers can be a significant source of waste in residential trash. They contribute untreated human waste to the landfill or waste disposal system, increasing the potential for groundwater contamination and the spread of disease-carrying organisms. It is estimated that disposable diapers contribute 1.3%, of the total volume of municipal waste disposed in U.S. landfills (EPA, 1994). Using cloth diapers removes the disposable diaper waste stream from landfills and transfers the human waste to the sanitary sewer system where it is properly treated. Used cloth diapers are placed in special hampers which are designed to contain this type of waste.
Compliance Benefit: Use of cloth diapers will help facilities decrease the amount of solid waste going to landfills and therefore, addresses the requirements of Executive Order 13101 requiring executive agencies (e.g., DOD) to incorporate waste prevention and recycling in their daily operations.

The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as a general guideline and are not meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will vary depending on the factors involved, e.g. the amount of workload involved.
Materials Compatibility:
N/A


Safety and Health: Good hygiene practices such as frequent hand washing and careful handling should be practiced when removing soiled diapers.


Benefits:
  • Source reduction potential of 1.3 % of disposed waste (EPA, 1994).
  • Reduction of untreated human waste in landfills.
  • Reduction of resource consumption from disposable diapers.
  • Cost savings due to reduced landfill disposal fees.
  • Cost savings from reusable diapers.


Disadvantages:
  • Less convenient.
  • Handling, storing, and laundering diapers is a disagreeable task.
  • May be difficult to implement due to the ease and accessibility of disposable diapers.


Economic Analysis: The cost elements of using cloth diapers are compared to disposable diapers. The disposable diaper cost is based on vendor information:

Assumptions:

  • Each use of a cloth diaper is equivalent to one disposable diaper.
  • A baby uses 60 diapers per week, which is 3,120 diapers per year.
  • The weight of a single soiled disposable diaper is 0.5499 lb; the weight of soiled disposable diapers produced per baby (60 diapers per week) is 1,56057 lb/yr.
  • Each cloth diaper is used 78 times before disposal.
  • A package of 12 cloth diapers costs $15.29, they are used 78 times, so that 3.33 packages are required per year, and they are recycled as rags when no longer usable.
  • A package of 40 disposable diapers costs $5.27, and 78 packs are used per year.
  • The cost of using a diaper service is $ 13.70 per week.
  • Waste disposal costs are $40 per ton diaper disposal cost is therefore $31.14 per baby, per year.
  • Cost comparison made for diaper use for one baby.

Annual Operating Cost Comparison for Diaper Service and Disposable Diapers

 
Diaper Service
Disposables
Operational Costs:    
Diaper Cost: $051 $4111
Laundering: $7102 $0
Disposal Cost: $0 $301
Total Operational Costs: $71063 $4412
Total Recovered Income: $0 $0
Net Annual Cost/Benefit: -$71063 -$4412

Economic Analysis Summary

    Annual Savings for Diaper Service: -$269
    Capital Cost for Diversion Equipment/Process: $0
    Payback Period for Investment in Equipment/Process: N/A

Click Here to view an Active Spreadsheet for this Economic Analysis and Enter Your Own Values.
Approving Authority: None identified

NSN/MSDS:
Product NSN Unit Size Cost MSDS*
None Identified $  

*There are multiple MSDSs for most NSNs.
The MSDS (if shown above) is only meant to serve as an example.

Points of Contact: Civilian:
Mr. Jack Shiffert
National Association of Diaper Services
2017 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (610) 971-4850
 
Navy:
Mr. Wallace Eakes
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center
1100 23rd Ave.
ESC 426
Port Hueneme, CA 93043-4370
Phone: (805) 982-4882
DSN: 551-4882
FAX: (805) 982-4832

Vendors: Local diaper service companies
Drug or department stores that sell cloth diapers

Sources: Mr. Jack Shiffert, National Association of Diaper Services, May 1999.
EPA, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1994 Update
Arthur D. Little, Disposable vs. Reusable Diapers, 1990 report.
Carl Lehrburger, Diapers: Environmental Impacts and Lifecycle Analysis, 1990 report.


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