Absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) including nappies, incontinence pads and period products are essential products for many but are difficult to dispose of and contribute to landfill or are incinerated.
The Mechanical Engineering team, led by Prof Mark Miodownik, are carrying out the fundamental science and engineering that will underpin the transition to a sustainable system for AHPs. This is in collaboration with industry and policy makers across the whole sector from raw materials to product design, to waste processing, to find optimal solutions across the entire system.
Taking a whole systems approach that includes chemical, bioengineering, material science and design, environmental assessment, waste processing, economic, behavioural and policy factors, researchers are exploring sustainable product development to address the waste issues.
For each product the team are analysing use models for reduce, reuse, recycling and composting within different settings including home, healthcare and workplaces. Analysing enablers and barriers for each to create adoptable circular solutions.
Mark Miodownik
Principal Investigator
