ECOZORG. Sustainable from birth: reusable baby diapers

The healthcare industry has a major environmental and climate impact and is one of the largest producers of industrial waste. Disposable diapers also form a large fraction of residual waste within the healthcare sector. Moreover, most of the waste streams are incinerated and consequently cannot be used in the (circular) economy.

This project focuses on sustainable birth care, more specifically reusable or washable baby diapers in the hospital as an alternative to disposable diapers in order to reduce the ecological footprint of newborns. On the one hand, the project aims to understand the needs, bottlenecks, barriers and challenges to introduce reusable diapers in the hospital through a qualitative approach. On the other hand, a pilot project is started with the introduction of reusable diapers at one of the Ghent maternities. The insights from the qualitative research and the pilot project will be compiled in a final report that can serve as both a blueprint and a policy recommendation.