Single use, disposable nappies, feminine hygiene products and incontinence products cannot be recycled, nor can they be composted. They belong in your red bin. This information is designed to assist and advise people with disposal of these items in the fortnightly mixed waste red bin.
You may choose to wrap some toilet paper around your pad before putting it in the waste bin. Disposal of sanitary pads when you're at home is pretty straightforward and up to you how you'd like to do it. As long as you're following the golden rule of sanitary pad disposal – bin it, don't flush it!
Use the black bin for non recyclable items like: disposable nappies. tissues, kitchen roll and wipes. menstrual and incontinence pads, bag these.
Please dispose of TENA pads in the bin or, where available, a sanitary towel disposal unit. Think of the environment and do not place them in the toilet. With most TENA Women products, you can use the plastic wrapping from your new pad to dispose the old one.
Put It in the Trash
Once your incontinence pad is wrapped up tight, you can dispose of it in the trash like you would any other type of garbage. Just be sure to put it in a bag that seal shut so that there is no risk of any leaks.
The vast majority of nappies are not recyclable and must be thrown away with general waste. This means they will probably end up in landfill or being burnt. Disposable diapers / incontinence pads are the 3rd largest consumer item in landfills, and represent 30% of non-biodegradable waste.
A separate sanitary bin should be provided to safely dispose of feminine hygiene products such as tampons and pads.
Hygiene products
Never flush nappies, sanitary napkins, tampons, incontinence pads, bandages, cotton buds or condoms down the toilet. These products commonly cause sewer blockages. All these items should be put in the rubbish bin.
The following can be placed in your black bin:
Crisp packets and sweet wrappers. Polystyrene packaging. Nappies and sanitary products. Crockery, pyrex and glassware (vases and drinking glasses)
There are some products which cannot be recycled and must continue to be placed in your red bin. Single use, disposable nappies, feminine hygiene products and incontinence products cannot be recycled, nor can they be composted. They belong in your red bin.
Gently and thoughtfully wrap the menstrual pad in toilet paper before disposing of it. You may also consider using the plastic or paper cover from your next pad for added hygiene. This practice helps maintain cleanliness, prevents odor, and ensures the pads are properly covered.
All used pads, liners and wipes should be disposed of with your household waste. You should not flush them down the toilet.
When disposing of sanitary products at home, put them in a colored plastic bag that is hard to see and dispose of them as burnable garbage. Drugstores and 100-yen shops sell plastic bags that are hard to see, as well as bags with a convenient deodorizing function.
While in a landfill, disposable pads are estimated to take 500 to 800 years to break down, and materials such as plastic never truly biodegrade.
Unlike loo roll, tampons, nappies, sanitary pads and similar items, are designed to absorb large volumes of moisture. As such, when they end up in our sewers, instead of breaking down, they expand, and absorb lots of sewage water getting caught up in FOG, causing ever bigger blockages.
You cannot recycle sanitary pads, and there is no special collection program for sanitary pads, so you can throw them in the trash bin. Though we say you can throw them in the trash bin, this does not mean you have to be careless about it.
Used sanitary napkins that have not been disposed off properly sometimes block the drainage system. Burning plastic sanitary napkins causes harmful toxins to be released into the atmosphere, and is therefore not an environment-friendly solution to the problem.
As a business owner, the requirements of your bathrooms for your employees are just as important as cash flow. Sanitary unit laws in Australia dictate that all employers must properly equip all available cubicles with a sanitary unit.
Yellow Bags with Black Stripe (Tiger Bags) – for offensive waste (inc. sanitary / nappy waste). For waste arising from the treatment of non-infectious patients, possibly containing bodily fluids, for example: PPE (gloves, masks aprons)
Soiled sanitary napkins are considered biohazardous garbage. Hence, it is first important to ensure that there are separate bins to dispose of them.
The pads are made from natural cellulose materials derived from ecologically managed forests. They are over 99 per cent biodegradable and compostable, being the first incontinence pads to be made using plant-based bio-plastic.
Incontinence pads and stoma bags should normally be doubled-bagged and put into your green wheelie bin unless there are other medical concerns. Stoma bags should be emptied into the toilet first.
Disposable pads should only be worn once and then disposed of. Used pads should be folded up and placed in a plastic bag for disposal. If possible use two bags, especially if there is stool in the pad. Even small pads should not be put in flushable toilets.
Unlike many countries around the world, the Australian sewerage system can cope with flushing toilet paper. Obviously, flushing reasonable amounts at a time is recommended; don't try to flush the whole roll at once!