Disposal of Sanitary Napkin

Why is a normal vital process of

human existence –Menstruation
- considered contaminated, dirty
& impure

It happens to us
14,66,17,293
girls and women
 What Is MHM
Women and adolescent girls using a clean
menstrual management material o absorb or
collect blood that can be changed in privacy as
often as necessary for the duration of the
menstruation period, using soap and water for
washing the body as required, and having
access to facilities to dispose of used menstrual
management materials.

Source-UNICEF and WHO, 2014

 100 Had No dialogue on
Menstruation
%
87 Old (unhygienic) cloth
% 64% to manage
household
do not have
74 toilets in
U.P Rural India women still use
% unsanitaized cloth

70 Fathers were in favour of

preparing girls for their
% first menstruation

Formative Research in U.P with menstruating adolescents – UNICEF, 2012

 “Nothing
inherently
Do You wrong in
reusing”
Know...
“Average women
will throw nearly
16,800 pads in
her life cycle”
 Disposable Sanitary Napkin
• Top layer – is made of polypropylene-a plastic
fleece
• Padding- wood pulp mixed with SAP(plastic
based gel)
• Leak proof

Contrary to popular belief, most disposal

sanitary napkins are made almost entirely
of plastic
 Flushing
Digging

Burning

Possible Disposal Mechanism

 Health & Environmental Effects

• Most disposal pads end up as unsegregated household waste or are burned along
with domestic waste-releasing toxins from the plastics.

• Source of the harmful chemicals that can be used in sanitary napkins

- Use of chlorine bleach to whiten the product that bleaching process does
not sterilise anything . It only ensure that the products are white. The process results
in the production of dioxin-a type of “organochlorine” as it DDT, PCBs and Agent
organs, that is linked to cancer, especially breast cancer, immune system
suppression, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory diseases, and sperm count
- Artificial Fragrances – added to napkins can cause local allergies and skin
reaction
- Insecticides and herbicides – sprayed on cotton crop especially ‘Furan’ stay
on cotton for long after it is harvested.

• Pad takes 500 years to degrade. Every year we add equivalent of 180 billion plastic
bags to our waste by using plastic laden feminine hygiene products.
 Local solutions in offer

Identification mark on walls to search

out families using home based
mechanism (Matka) for disposal of
menstrual waste

Women practicing disposal of menstrual

waste in their home
 Local solutions in offer

Incinerator construction in Schools

Girls gaining hands-on knowledge on

disposal of menstrual waste via

incinerator
 Menstrual Hygiene Scheme

20 States

152 Districts

1.5 crore
Adolescent
Girls DISPOSAL is
90 million pads still a challenge
per month ??
Thank You