Over all of the many years we have been providing dumpster rentals for Trenton and Colborne property owners and contractors / service providers we believe we’ve never seen a diaper in one of our bins. It’s quite possible we missed one but we’re fortunate that for the most part our customers understand what’s acceptable to go into the bins, and what’s not go to into them. For the most part what we collect for folks and then arrange for responsible disposal is building material waste, and the type of waste that is created when properties are demolished or undergo extensive renovations. If you need to rent a disposal bin in either town or in nearby ones like Belleville or Brighton then we’ve always got one or more just a call away.
Why Disposable Hygiene Products Are a Growing Landfill Problem
The reason we talk about such an odd item to find a dumpster is really because it’s one that IS disposed of very frequently, and often with some urgency given the unpleasant nature of the function it serves. All newborns are going to be in diapers during those early years, and we all were in them too. Our parents were probably just as unenthusiastic about dealing with them as we were with our kids, but it’s a necessary part of parenting. The problem has always been that once they get to the landfill these products don’t break down very well at all. The biological waste that’s in them is only problematic for a very short period of time. The garment material itself is an entirely different story.
Previously we’ve talked about the importance of keeping food waste out of landfills, and there has been the same sort of need for personal hygiene products like diapers, feminine hygiene products, and even vomit bags from airplanes. All of these products have liner materials that do not decompose like the rest of the product and as such they will be existing bulk in landfills for the long foreseeable future. And some of them may also have the likelihood of leeching harmful chemicals.
Waterloo, Ontario is not overly far from where we are with disposal bin rentals for Campbellford and Cobourg, and it’s from this part of our Province where advances in technology and waste management have shown promise for making it much more acceptable for these types of hygiene products to be directed to landfills. That’s what we’re going to have a look at with this month’s blog entry here at Load n’ Lift, and as always any topic that’s related to better waste management and disposal is going to be the type that grabs our attention.
Hundreds of Years Shorter Timeline
What’s been developed at the University of Waterloo is a natural, super-absorbent material that may dramatically reduce the environmental impact of personal hygiene products like diapers, menstrual pads and tampons. This is potentially a huge development, and in large part because of just how widespread use of these products is and to be expected given the way they’re needed by so many people on an ongoing basis.
For your understanding – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says about 250 million disposable diapers are discarded globally every day! And the numbers of single-use menstrual pads and tampons thrown away by any of the 1.8 billion women who are in their reproductive years worldwide at any given time are hugely problematic too.
Ontario Researchers Develop a Biodegradable Breakthrough
Currently, the synthetic absorbent materials in commercial hygiene products will take centuries to break down. But this new hydrogel developed by researchers at the University degrades harmlessly in soil within just a few months, and so the timeline differences are HUGELY appealing. The stated aim was scalable, economical process for producing eco-friendly materials to replace the non-degradable components currently used in personal hygiene products, and it seems that there are now high-performance alternatives that work extremely well without leaving hundreds of years of waste behind for future generations.
How the New Plant-Based Hydrogel Works
The problem is that personal hygiene products rely on materials known as hydrogels. These are soft, flexible polymers capable of absorbing and retaining hundreds of times their own weight in liquids and used to collect and trap bodily fluids. The newly-developed alternative we’re talking about here is a natural, super-absorbent hydrogel that can replace synthetic, non-biodegradable materials now used in personal hygiene products.
If their use becomes commonplace then the hydrogels in disposable diapers and tampons now that are manufactured using petroleum-based materials and are not biodegradable will no longer be needed.
The new personal hygiene product liners are made from two kinds of cellulose – an abundant, organic polymer found in plants – and bound together and strengthened with citric acid.
Their natural alternative to the all-important absorbent material in personal hygiene products delivers equal or better performance while also being biodegradable. There were also tests done to prove it degrades in soil and that the natural hydrogel doesn’t release any toxic by-products. It has been proven to be environmentally safe from start to finish.
The introduction of this new material to the market is already underway, as a patent has already been filed and the designers are now working with CTK Bio Canada of Vancouver. They have plans to commercialize the new technology. This has real potential for eco-friendly approaches to personal and feminine hygiene products, with a smart switch to biodegradable polymers that will reduce long-term waste and microplastics, strengthen environmental sustainability and support compliance with emerging regulatory expectations.
Responsible Dumpster Rental in Trenton, Colborne and Eastern Ontario
Need to rent a dumpster in Colborne or Trenton? Call us here at Load n’ Lift and in nearly every instance we can have a bin delivered to your site the same day. All bin doors open to ground level for easy loading, and our mini-bin system can be placed in the most challenging locations, often times in the locations that larger trucks find challenging and can’t consider. We are fully insured, bonded, and Ontario Ministry of Environment certified. 7, 8, 11, 16, 20 and 25 yards containers are available, and we have a 5% discount for seniors and CFB Trenton personnel.
Have a look at our Gallery here and you’ll get a better idea of what we provide for people and the way our disposal bin delivery and pick-up service works.
Load-N-Lift Disposal — family-owned bin & dumpster rental across Eastern Ontario since 2007.
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Call 877-355-5623 for up-front pricing and same or next-day delivery.
