Ethical and Eco Nappies

Finding eco friendly and sustainable nappies 

From prehistoric animal-skin and moss nappies in Siberia, to Central Asian cradleboards fitted with urine tubes, and from the cloth swaddling of medieval Europe to boiled-clay contraptions in Turkey, humans have devised no end of innovative ways to deal with their babies' creative outputs.

Yet this diversity decreased rapidly in recent history, giving way to a globally dominant design: the plastic disposable. Mass marketed by Procter & Gamble’s Pampers in 1961, single-use nappies have since grown to become one of the primary contributors to global plastic waste. Nappies are amongst the top 25 most common plastic items found on the ocean floor. And approximately 300,000 nappies every minute end up either incinerated, in landfill, or in the environment, where they will likely remain for centuries.

This guide will assess standard disposable nappies, their more environmentally friendly “eco-disposable” variations, and reusable cloth nappies, which have recently enjoyed something of a renaissance amongst environmentally conscious parents.

Changes in the nappy market

Disposables

Procter and Gamble’s Pampers brand remains the UK leader with an approximately 43% market share. And one in five nappies sold in the UK is now from a supermarket own brand. 

But there is evidence that the market is beginning to shift as emerging brands challenge the established names, and we've included some of these eco-disposables such as B Corp-certified Peachies which is venture capital-funded, and Pura which received a £4.25 million investment led by private equity firm Maven Capital Partners in 2022. Typically for private equity investment, it is unclear how much control Maven now exerts over the company. 

We've included Huggies in the guide because they remain an important global player, despite the brand no longer selling conventional nappies in the UK.

For sceptics of the eco-disposable movement, of whom there are many, involvement of venture capital and private equity may suggest that the movement’s ethical commitments are ultimately superficial. But it's important not to write companies off just because they are not all family-owned small businesses.

The question is whether companies can uphold ethical standards amid the supply chain and climate challenges that often accompany rapid capital growth.

Reusables

Tots Bots, a long-standing reusable and a previous Best Buy brand, went into liquidation in late 2023 in a significant blow to the ethical nappy market. Unlike other cloth nappy manufacturers in the UK market, Tots Bots manufactured its nappies exclusively on home soil and was a significant local employer in Glasgow. Commentators have speculated that the early 2020s reusable nappy boom may have been partially pandemic driven – trialling cloth nappies is perhaps more tempting when stuck indoors with potentially more time.

Some cloth adopters may have swung back to disposables when they resumed pre-lockdown routines, but reusable nappies are also long-lasting products – it’d make sense if demand for new ones were to drop following a spike. We’re hopeful that most reusable nappies didn’t end up in the bin alongside piles of sourdough starter.

Newcomer in the reusable nappy market is Alva Baby which sells cheap, primarily plastic-based reusables on marketplaces like Amazon. The China-based company provides little transparency on workers' rights or climate impacts. We do not recommend it due to its lack of reporting on these key issues.

Which brands make which type of nappies?

This guide researches disposable nappies (both traditional and eco-disposable) along with reusable nappies. Some brands make both types of products

Brands making reusable nappies

• Alva Baby
• Bambino Mio
• Beaming Baby
• Kit & Kin
• Little Lamb
• Mother-ease
• MuslinZ
• Vimse

There are far more reusable companies than we can cover in this guide, so look for ones that discuss their environmental and supply chain impacts in detail. If you are new to reusables, nappy hire kits and nappy libraries are a great place to start. You can also find secondhand reusables on clothing marketplaces like Vinted.

All the reusable nappies in the guide are made outside the UK. But we have included brands which are available in the UK either in general shops including supermarkets, wholefood shops, or via online retailers e.g. the Nappy Lady website. See the Places To Buy section at the end of the guide for links for some of these options.

Brands making disposable nappies

• Bambo Nature
• Beaming Baby
• Boots
• Eco by Naty (the Eco brand is now called BioEmbrace)
• Huggies (Kimberly-Clark)
• Kit & Kin
• Libero Touch (Essity)
• Mama Bamboo
• Pampers (Procter & Gamble)
• Peachies
• Pura
• Rascals

Reuse or dispose: the bottom line

Many would assume that reusable nappies have a lower climate impact, and although this assumption is correct, it has been the topic of a long standing debate.

Reusable nappies produce much less waste, but they impact the environment through the use of water and energy to wash and dry them.

Helpfully, the UK government commissioned and published a comprehensive life cycle analysis (LCA)in 2023, which compared reusable and disposable nappies across 18 environmental impact categories. The study found that the global warming potential (carbon footprint) for the first 2.5 years of a child’s life is: 

• disposable nappies: 457kgCO2eq
• reusable nappies: 345kgCO2eq

Reusable nappies are clearly a lower-carbon option overall.

For context, in carbon terms, one child using disposable nappies over 2.5 years is comparable with around 6.4 return car journeys from London to Nottingham. For a child using reusables, these impacts are roughly comparable with 4.8 return car trips.

As expected, the vast majority of reusables’ climate impact comes from washing them – both the energy used by washing machines and the environmental impacts of laundry detergents. These can be minimised by:

• Switching to a genuine renewable energy tariff (see the energy supplier guide).
• Line drying rather than tumble drying.
• Washing at a lower temperature or on an eco-cycle (although reluctance to lower the temperature dial on certain washes is very understandable).
• Choosing environmentally friendly detergents (see the laundry detergent guide).
• Reusing nappies for subsequent children, or buying them secondhand, also helps reduce your carbon impact.

One of the limitations of the UK government LCA is that it did not distinguish between standard disposables and “eco” branded ones, instead opting for a single aggregate disposable that was “representative of the current UK market”. This is unfortunate because the sustainability of eco-disposable nappies remains hotly debated, with little cradle-to-grave environmental data available about their performance compared to conventional nappies.

One positive takeaway from the analysis is that disposables have become more environmentally friendly over the past 20 years. The LCA found that the average disposable nappy's carbon footprint dropped 27% between 2005 and 2023, mainly due to more efficient manufacturing and lighter-weight nappies.

Global impact of disposable nappy waste

If the roughly 25% difference between disposable and reusable nappies' global warming potential doesn't seem that significant to you, it’s worth remembering that the LCA only looked at the UK.

The UK has a relatively efficient waste disposal system compared to much of the rest of the world – things may seem bad here, but we don't tend to see heaps of plastic nappies accumulating in our rivers. A 2018 World Bank report found that more than a fifth of waste found in Indonesia’s waterways is nappies. Plastic fibres, likely from nappies, have been found in the stomachs of fish in Javan riverways. Meanwhile, fishermen in West Africa complain of hundreds of nappies along the coastline.

Interestingly, standard disposables are seen as something of a bargain option in the UK, increasingly the preserve of supermarket own-brands and Pampers’ cheaper product lines. Reusables meanwhile have become something of an aspirational alternative – but with time, rather than money, as the primary luxury.

Look to developing markets and you’ll find that dynamic is reversed. Population growth and an expanding middle class have made fertile ground for aggressive expansion by disposable companies worldwide, who pitch their products as premium liberation from domestic labour.

This massive potential increase in single-use plastic waste worldwide is very concerning but we shouldn’t ignore its social and economic context.

Domestic labour remains heavily gendered across the globe and the burden of washing and changing nappies is likely to be felt especially acutely by mothers in lower income countries. Denying them some relief from that burden to protect the environment is not ethically straightforward. 

What are eco-disposable nappies and are they biodegradable?

Eco-disposable nappy brands use renewable and more sustainably sourced materials such as bamboo, paper pulp certified by bodies such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and recycled or plant-based plastics. They also avoid adding fragrances or perfumes.

They emerged in the 1990s in response to growing consumer environmental awareness and concern.

Far from being an eco-niche, you’ll often see Naty, Kit & Kin, and Pura nappies on the shelves of major supermarkets.

In our last guide to nappies, published in 2023, we drew attention to the eco companies’ tendencies to over-egg claims about biodegradability and compostability. We wrote that biodegradable nappies generally contain at least 20% non-biodegradable plastic material, which will likely outlive your baby’s distant descendants. Even material that is labelled as biodegradable will often not degrade in UK landfills, whilst so-called compostable materials often only do so under industrial composting conditions. Good luck to any parent who tries to chuck ten nappies a day into their home garden composter.

Since 2023, companies have pulled back from marketing eco-disposables as biodegradable, possibly eager to avoid a toxic build-up of greenwashing accusations. We’ve found that the marketing for eco-disposables now typically centres around sustainable material usage, rather than biodegradability. Mama Bamboo, for example, no longer has the word biodegradable on its nappy product pages.

We asked Mama Bamboo about the possibility of better nappy biodegradability in the future, and they stated that recent research by themselves and University College London indicated that:

“A fully plant-based nappy could break down through a combined solution of enzymes and anaerobic digestion composting, producing nutrient rich fertiliser and compost. With the right investment in waste collection and processing solutions, this promises to offer a long-term environmentally more conscious answer to the big nappy waste problem than either incineration or recycling.”

It doesn’t look like we're quite there yet, but there is at least cause not to abandon the biodegradable ship.

Companies like Pura are also pushing for better nappy recycling in the UK. And a US brand called Hiro has started selling nappies that are packaged with mycelium pouches, which can be added to soiled nappies to help them break down more quickly, even in non-ideal landfill conditions. The company is in early stages, and products are not currently available in the UK, but we will be monitoring its progress and impact with interest.

Are eco-disposable nappies greenwashing?

The move away from biodegradability claims has not been enough to protect eco-disposables against greenwashing accusations. At the start of 2026, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against two eco-disposable companies, Kit & Kin and The Cheeky Panda (which is de-listing its nappy products and so is no longer in our guide).

In short, the regulator found that both companies had insufficient evidence to support environmental claims, including Kit & Kin's description of its nappies and wipes as "eco" and "better for our world". Kit & Kin argued, not unreasonably, that these were comparative claims, meaning its products were better than conventional alternatives. However, the ASA interpreted "eco" as an absolute claim that the products caused no environmental harm throughout their life cycle. Kit & Kin subsequently withdrew the ads.

While we at Ethical Consumer support the robust scrutiny of environmental claims, it is notable that both ASA cases were brought by Procter & Gamble, the company behind the global market-leading brand Pampers. We're unsure whether a company as widely criticised for global nappy pollution as P&G is best placed to lead the charge against nappy greenwashing. And we don't want to see greenwashing regulations becoming a tool that multinationals can use to undermine their smaller competition.

How are eco-disposable nappies better than conventional disposable nappies?

The eco-disposable brands in this guide focus largely on their material usage, a legitimate concern. According to the 2023 life cycle analysis, 63% of a disposable nappy’s environmental impact stems from materials and production – almost double the “end of life” emissions associated with waste disposal.

Peachies was the most forthcoming with hard data about its environmental advantages over conventional disposables. According to its 2022 Climate Impact Forecast, the company had increased the absorbency of its super absorbent polymers (SAP) and reduced the amount needed in each nappy, meaning that fewer nappies are required per baby. The report forecast that Peachies’ production design could reduce CO2e emissions by 93kg per child per year compared to conventional disposables, and the figures were validated by the EU’s Climate Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate KIC).

It is promising to see companies providing externally verified data to back up their claims, although if we were to be picky, we’d like to see how its climate forecasts have held up over the four years since it published the report.

The complexity of comparing carbon impacts

Mathematically minded readers may have been tempted to compare Peachies' forecast with the 2023 UK government life cycle analysis (LCA), discussed above, and could have come to the conclusion that Peachies’ per-child carbon impacts would be lower than those of a child in reusable nappies. According to the 2023 LCA, 2.5 years of disposable use has a footprint of 457kgCO2. So, if using Peachies saved 93KgCO2 per year, then over 2.5 years the Peachies total footprint would be just 224KgCO2 – significantly lower than a typical reusable nappy.

The studies were not designed to be comparable, and when contacted, Peachies told us it would not claim that its nappies had a lower overall carbon footprint than reusables. But we asked Peachies how they calculated their baseline figure – this is the "conventional disposable" that they compared their nappies against. They told us that they used "life cycle assessment methodology and a range of published impact factors and literature available at the time the forecast was developed and validated in 2022."

As the LCA notes (published a year after Peachies' report), the carbon impact of the average disposable has dropped dramatically over the last twenty years, and the last major UK LCAs prior to 2023 were published in 2005 and 2008. So, it’s plausible that Peachies’ nappies were compared against significantly older, more carbon-intensive nappies. Again, this doesn’t diminish Peachies' nappy design – its report's external validator concluded that the forecast remained robust even under a hypothetical 70% reduction in the baseline's carbon intensity – but it’s a reminder that comparing environmental impact reports is a complex process. Don't throw your reusables in the landfill quite yet.

We are confident that all of the reusable nappies in this guide are better for the environment than even the most eco-friendly disposable, even if reusables are washed at high temperatures and tumble dried (as assumed in the life cycle analysis). We would, however, like to see more externally validated research carried out on the whole lifecycle impacts of eco-disposable options.

Are eco-disposable nappies a good compromise?

Eco-disposables are no silver bullet but can help reduce some of the environmental impacts of conventional nappies. If reducing your environmental impact is your primary motivation, then reusables are the way forward. Many parents use a combination of reusables and a high-scoring eco-disposable if they don’t have the time for a full-time reusable commitment.

But it's important not to feel guilty if you do not have time to use reusables at all. Life is busy and chaotic, parental life especially so, and there are many more ways to make a positive environmental impact in life beyond your choice of nappy. Some pro-reusable blogs and web forums can perhaps demonstrate a lack of awareness or understanding about why parents opt for disposables. We don’t think that shaming time-stretched parents is necessarily the most effective way to reduce global plastic waste.

Are there toxic and harmful chemicals in nappies?

Toxic chemicals are a salient issue in the disposable nappy world, with a 2019 study by the French research agency ANSES suggesting that 90% of babies have been exposed to toxics in nappies.

Ethical Consumer's sustainable materials rating looked for concrete policies prohibiting the most damaging chemicals. Brands scored well for using externally validated certifications, such as the OEKO-TEX Standard 100, which requires regular laboratory testing of the final product against more than 1,000 harmful substances, including formaldehyde, heavy metals, phthalates, PFAs, parabens, BPA, and dioxins.

Brands with OEKO-TEX certification

• Bambo Nature
• Naty
• Mama Bamboo
• Pampers
• Pura is additionally Allergy UK certified
• Rascals 

Other certification schemes

Libero Touch uses the similarly comprehensive Nordic Eco Swan certification. 

Beaming Baby, Kit & Kin, and Peachies are marketed as hypoallergenic.

No intentionally added harmful substances used

We found no evidence of companies in this guide intentionally adding particularly damaging substances, such as PFAs, parabens, or formaldehyde into their nappies. 

Indeed, in a 2022 follow up to the 2019 study, ANSES found that of the 38 “very severe hazard” chemicals they initially found, only formaldehyde remained in some of the tested brands.

A European industry body maintained that the trace levels of contaminants found in some products are not intentionally added to nappies and are not enough to pose a risk.

If you want to minimise any risk, or your child has sensitive skin, choose a hypoallergenic product and avoid fragranced products – nappies were never meant to smell nice. Fragrance-free nappies are no longer the preserve of eco-brands – Rascals nappies are fragrance free, as are the Pampers Pure range.

What is Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) and does it matter?

The presence of Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) disposable nappies suggests that non-TCF nappies contain chlorine, but this is not really the case anymore. All mainstream nappies have been Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) since the 1990s, meaning that they are bleached with chlorine compounds, but not with chlorine gas. ECF greatly reduces the formation of highly toxic dioxins compared with older bleaching methods and is widely considered to be safe.

Beaming Baby, ECO by Naty, Mama Bamboo, Bambo Nature, Kit & Kin, Peachies, and Pura all pride themselves on being TCF, with Mama Bamboo arguing that "TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) processing is a non-negotiable requirement for eczema-prone babies".

Choose a TCF brand if the total reduction of potential toxics is a priority, but also look for more wide-ranging certifications like OEKO-TEX.

Use of sustainable materials in nappies

The Ethical Consumer sustainable materials rating assessed factors including transparency about materials, reusability, and toxics policies.

Reusable brands scored highest. Most of them clearly listed their materials and used fewer added chemicals than disposables. The lowest-scoring reusable company was Alva Baby, which had vague policies on toxic substances and used microfibre inserts. Microfibre sheds plastic particles during washing, contributing to microplastic pollution.

This isn’t to say that most reusable nappies are plastic-free – which is perhaps surprising given that they are generally referred to as cloth nappies. Most brands use waterproof plastic liners, polyester blends, or plastic fastenings, so we deducted 10 marks where virgin plastic made up a significant part of the main fabrics. 

Only Little Lamb and MuslinZ received top scores for sustainable materials use: Little Lamb uses recycled Polyurethane laminated Polyester (PUL) and polyester, while MuslinZ mainly uses bamboo and organic cotton, with PUL limited to some wraps.

Fully plastic-free alternatives do exist, such as wool covers sold by German brand Disana and US company Babee Greens, although wool raises separate environmental and ethical questions. See a separate feature article for a discussion of the relative impact of wool and other fabrics.

Overall, we didn’t find much evidence that reusable brands are working to reduce the impacts associated with their material use. They could do better on this.

Disposable brands didn’t tend to score as well as reusables for sustainable materials. 

Disposable brands that fully disclosed their materials did best. These brands all used FSC-certified or organic bamboo pulp: 

• Mama Bamboo
• Beaming Baby
• Kit & Kin
• Naty
• Libero Touch

While not perfect, FSC certification helps ensure forests are managed responsibly, protecting biodiversity, Indigenous rights, and workers.

How do nappy brands rate for climate policies?

The highest marks for the Ethical Consumer climate rating went to reusable companies because of the nature of their product, but we found detailed carbon reporting to be lacking across the sector. 

Few brands provided detailed information about how they planned to reduce their carbon impacts. Of the higher scorers, Mother-ease manufactures using 100% renewable electricity, while MuslinZ highlighted the use of lower-carbon GOTS-certified cotton.

The harshest verdict fell on Pampers, which scored zero for climate due to numerous third-party criticisms, the loss of its SBTi net-zero commitment, and insufficient evidence that its vast Scope 3 emissions were falling.

We’d like to see a greater focus on emissions reductions across the sector, from both disposable and reusable brands. As we noted above, reusable brands continue to use a significant amount of plastic and cotton, so it’d be good to see more detailed discussions about how they limit their associated environmental impacts.

Do eco nappies cost more?

Research by Ethical Consumer found that some of the recommended eco-disposable nappy brands compare favourably on price to some of the big names in the nappy market.

The table below shows the price per size 1 nappy for each of the disposable brands, ignoring bundle offers and temporary discounts. There is significant variation, but some of the eco-friendly brands are competitively priced against the low-scoring Pampers. Aiming for the cheapest possible nappy may also be a false economy, as many parents find that premium nappies need to be changed less regularly.

The real price difference is between disposables and reusable nappies.

Do reusable nappies cost more than disposables?

From a cost perspective, using reusables will turn out cheaper in the long term, although they cost more up front. 

Ethical Shopping For Babies has produced a useful cost breakdown including the cost of washing. They reckon reusables save around £700 per child compared to eco-disposables, and £550 compared to cheaper disposables.

Those savings increase if you have more babies. Laundry and drying costs also depend slightly on the type of reusable nappy: fitted, terry, or all-in-one.

We compared the prices of reusable nappy brands and there wasn’t much difference. All the brands have options for buying bundles which makes them cheaper. 

Nappy vouchers

In the UK you can find out if your local council offers vouchers for reusables at Nappy Gurus website under Help Hub Advice.

Workers' rights in nappy production supply chains

Very few companies scored well under Ethical Consumer's workers category. This was generally due to a sector-wide lack of information about company supply chains, rather than specific allegations of worker abuses. 

Most brands made only vague claims (such as Little Lamb's statement that its Turkish factory operates under "fair trade conditions") and lacked formal public policies. Mother-ease scored highest in this category (60/100) because it manufactures in its own Canadian factory, meaning that it takes more responsibility for the workers that make its product.

Rascals' owner, Zuru Group, scored particularly poorly. The company notably pursued a defamation case against anonymous Glassdoor reviewers who described it as a "toxic" workplace, resulting in Glassdoor being forced to disclose their identities despite assurances of anonymity. Glassdoor stated that it was deeply disappointed in the court's decision: "We note that, contrary to Zuru's contentions, the unflattering workplace experience reviews describing working at Zuru were authored by multiple former Zuru employees." Zuru scored 0/100 in the workers category.

Elimination communication: an option for the brave

There are options beyond disposable, and even cloth nappies. Although only a fraction of modern parents go down this route, babies lived nappy-free for millions of years and elimination communication remains dominant in some non-industrialised societies. As suggested by its name, it is a matter of learned communication – learning how to sense a baby’s way of saying that they need to go. 

With a little bit of practice and a lot of attunement it really is possible to hold your baby over a potty or the toilet at exactly the right time. Although the goal usually is not toilet training but attachment forming, elimination communication often gets a toddler potty trained sooner than their nappy-clad peers. If you’re interested in trying it, summer is always an easier time to start. Just be aware that accidents happen!

Incontinence products for adults

Feedback on our previous nappy guide requested information on incontinence products for adults.

We have checked out the brand leaders, Tena, Always and Boots. 

• Tena is owned by Essity which appeared in our toilet paper guide as the owner of the Cushelle and Velvet brands.
• Always is owned by Procter & Gamble which appears in this nappies guide as the owner of Pampers.
• Boots is in our nappies guide and scores poorly, and is owned by Sycamore Partners

Some eco brands make eco-friendly disposable incontinence products.

Reusable and washable incontinence briefs and pads

Just like for nappies and menstrual products, products that are reusable are better both environmentally and financially than disposables.

Tena do reusable incontinence briefs.

Some reusable menstrual products might also be suitable, depending on levels of leakage.

We also found a number of other reusable brands specifically marketed as incontinence products that you might want to try. But we haven’t rated these companies.

Here’s a few of them:

• Age UK briefs and pants
• Cheeky Wipes pads and pants
• Jude’s pants

FAQs on nappies

1) What are eco-friendly nappies​?

Eco-friendly nappies tends to mean one of two things: 

• Reusable nappies which are the most eco-friendly nappies, as they have far lower waste impacts and require less raw material than single-use disposable nappies. 
• Eco-disposable nappies which are better for the environment in many ways but still have a significant waste impact.

2) Are cloth nappies really eco-friendly​?

Yes, cloth nappies are more environmentally friendly than disposables and this is backed up by rigorous life-cycle assessments.

3) Are reusable nappies actually better for the environment?

Washing and drying reusable nappies has a significant environmental cost but they are better for the environment than disposables overall. 

You can reduce the impact of reusables by moving to a renewable energy tariff and line drying where possible.

4) Do I have to use reusables full-time for them to make a difference?

You can still make a difference environmentally with a mix of reusable and disposable nappies. Many parents opt for a compromise between reusables and disposables. Any reduction in plastic waste is a good thing for the world.

5) Are reusable nappies worth it if I use a tumble dryer?

Yes, research shows that reusable nappies still make a difference to the environment even if you tumble dry them. Research from life cycle analyses assume that many parents will use a tumble dryer and still show that reusable nappies have a significantly lower carbon footprint.

6) Which is best: reusable nappy washed at 60°C, or a disposable?

Reusable nappies will have a lower carbon footprint, even if they are washed at high temperatures.

7) Are bamboo nappies biodegradable in the UK?

No disposable nappies are fully biodegradable in the UK yet, but many contain lots of biodegradable material. Mama Bamboo's nappies are 80% biodegradable.

8) Can I compost nappies in the UK?

No nappies in the UK will compost on a cold garden compost pile, and the country does not have a kerbside collection service for composting nappies. Companies such as Mama Bamboo are advocating to change this.

9) Do nappies contain PFAs (forever chemicals)?

None of the nappy brands in this guide appear to be intentionally adding PFAs to their nappies. This is no guarantee that PFAs are absent though, as they may be added unintentionally during production processes. 

Look for companies with external certifications such as OKEO-TEX, which require external testing for a range of toxic chemicals.