The 40 nurseries under the management of the City of Brussels produce nearly 1.2 million dirty diapers per year. To make these daycare centres more eco-friendly, the City is expanding the use of washable and reusable nappies.
After a test phase involving eight nurseries, the City of Brussels decided on Monday to extend the use of washable and reusable diapers to 40 crèches under its management, which produce a total mass of about 240 tonnes of waste in the form of nappies per year.
The City had already launched a 12-month trial in October 2020 in two kindergartens without charging parents extra. The contract has since been extended and six new kindergartens have been gradually included in the plan, said childcare councillor Arnaud Pinxteren.
"We don't think about it enough, but a baby quickly consumes 2,000 diapers in their lifetime. With reusable ones in our childcare centres, we are saving a huge amount of water compared to the amount needed to produce disposable nappies," Pinxteren said when announcing the results of the first phase.
Greener childcare facilities
Now, this system will be expanded to all 40 nurseries operated by the City of Brussels as part of its bid to make all childcare facilities within its area sustainable and green. The local council has given the green light to the rental of diapers and transport bags as well as to their recovery, cleaning and redistribution.
An information campaign for nursery staff is being launched to help them use them.
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The deployment of the equipment will cost €1.6 million over a period of 48 months, but the system will avoid the cost of waste collection, estimated at around €80,000.
Outside of nurseries, the city is also encouraging parents to switch to these more sustainable versions of nappies by awarding a premium of €100 per child for buying or renting (collection and cleaning included) washable nappies.
