Faculty of Community and Health Sciences

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The Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (CHS) is committed to excellence in education and training, research and community service which promotes a progressive primary health care approach in an inter-professional manner.

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Browsing by Subject "Absorbent hygiene products"

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    A critical view of applying life cycle assessment on disposable diapers in a rural context
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2025) Chitaka, Takunda Y.; Schenck, Catherina; Nell, Charlotte
    The environmental impacts of disposable diapers in comparison to reusable diapers have been a matter of interest within the life cycle assessment (LCA) community for many years. However, the majority of LCAs have been conducted in developed countries with well-developed waste management infrastructure. This study takes a critical view of the application of LCA to evaluate the environmental impacts of disposable diapers in rural areas. In the study area, the majority of diapers were openly dumped (43.8%), sent to unsanitary landfills (26.1%) or burned (18.6%). The production phase contributed the most to the majority of impact categories, excluding freshwater exotoxicity, marine exotoxicity and human carcinogenic toxicity. These impacts were instead dominated by end-of-life impacts and also had the highest relative significance when normalisation was conducted. The lack of and/or poor waste management has resulted in the end of life of diapers being a significant environmental risk. However, current life cycle impact methodologies are not able to fully cover the scope of impacts presented by mismanaged diaper waste. This study demonstrates the importance of geographical contexts when conducting diaper LCAs wherein, in some scenarios, it may be necessary to include impacts beyond the scope of a traditional LCA. significance: • This is the first LCA conducted on diapers in the rural context of Africa. • The majority of impacts were attributed to the production of disposable diapers. • The majority of disposable diapers were dumped or sent to unsanitary landfills.
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    Disposable diaper usage, disposal practices and quantity estimation in rural areas
    (Elsevier, 2024) Nell, Charlotte M.; Schenck, Catherina J.; Chitaka, Takunda Y.
    This study aimed to describe the disposable diaper usage, disposal practices and quantity estimation in a specified rural setting within a developing, sub-Saharan country, South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used to collect primary data, which included survey research, focus group discussions, participatory thematic mapping, illegal dumping mapping and member checking. Most diapers end up within the natural receiving environment due to a lack of formalised waste management service provision. Dumping hot spots are water courses and streams. On average, each infant generates 4.47 diapers per day, while an average of 158,154 and 34,493 total diapers are generated daily within Bushbuckridge and Maruleng, respectively. High unemployment and grant-dependency rates characterise the study area, and households often spend the majority of child support grants to purchase diapers. Residents were willing to use a diaper disposal point and are not opposed to incineration. This study forms a comprehensive baseline to determine the feasibility of disposable diaper beneficiation options in rural areas.