A new partnership between phs Group and FabLittleBag is helping businesses to address the environmental issues associated with the disposal of their sanitary waste, highlighting the need to ‘be a Binner not a Flusher’.
On average, it’s estimated that we flush 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 million sanitary towels and 7000,000 panty liners down our toilets, daily*. Ultimately, if not caught up in a blockage, these sanitary products will end up washed up on our beaches or in our rivers and seas, where they take hundreds of years to break down.
FabLittleBag’s innovative sanitary disposal bags are proven to convert die-hard ‘flushers’ into ‘binners’. In trials with parental advice website, Mumsnet, 97% of ‘flushers’ converted to binning after just one month’s use.
Paul Doble, Chief Commercial Officer for phs Group, said: “By helping businesses provide the right products for their customers, we can help them to improve their environmental performance and reduce costs.
“The benefit of FabLittleBag is two-fold. Firstly, it prevents blockages in pipes and sewers, which are a significant and avoidable cost to businesses and water companies and secondly, it prevents this waste stream from polluting our seas. Thanks to our LifeCycle Strategy, we are also able to divert this waste stream away from landfill.”
Sanitary products, nappies and incontinence products (known as absorbent hygiene waste products) are traditionally difficult to dispose of in the waste stream and phs Group is taking the lead, working with Energy From Waste plants, to transform hygiene waste into sustainable energy. Diverting this waste from our pressured landfill sites is better for the environment and helps the UK to meet its renewable energy targets.
Martha Silcott of FabLittleBag, said: "Many women have no idea that their flushed tampons and pads can have such a negative environmental impact but on the scale we’re talking about, it’s a huge problem. One way we can encourage women to bin is to provide easy-to-use products. There has been little innovation around sanitary product disposal until now and binning them has been a messy and off-putting process.
“FabLittleBag has a patented design, meaning it can be opened with just one hand and it hygienically seals away the sanitary items. It also contains leaks, smears and odour, and prevents waste from sticking to the sides and lids of sanitary bins. It transforms sanitary disposal into something that both feels good and does good.”
phs Group offers FabLittleBag and its dispenser as part of our washroom product range, making it easier for businesses to dispose of their hygiene waste in an environmentally responsible way.
*figures sourced from Natracare and the Marine Conservation Society research
