PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The raw material of common sanitary pads is mainly cellulose and low-density polyethylene (or other synthetic components). Past experiments to develop re-usable (mooncup) or biodegradable absorbent or similar devices (paper-cotton based products) for the menstrual hygiene sector have not been commercially successful owing to their lack of comfort and the difficulty of producing them to the high quantity required. In fact, these alternative products account for less than 5% of the market, despite the rise in interest in sustainable solutions among consumers.
Reducing the environmental impact of products (related to resource consumption, transport and packaging) must not jeopardise their technological performance. Nevertheless, the impact can be great: a single use sanitary pad takes around 500 years to biodegrade in a landfill site and around 30 million are used in Europe every day, this makes roughly 60 000 tons.
P&G research and development activities, however, have led to several new patented applications that have the potential to substantially reduce waste and improve environmental performance. Those patents relate to a multilayer, heterogeneous, absorbent core structure with highly optimised component design and the use of sheet pulp fibres of varying length for optimal resilience and capacity.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE+ CELSTAB project would demonstrate on an industrial scale the feasibility of upscaling and integrating processes for the production of a new absorbent core and cellulose component for a specific hygiene product. The process would combine the mentioned patents in a new multilayer arrangement that uses 15-25% less material and reduces emissions by 10-15% t CO2 equivalent per year. The overall target for waste prevention was 15-25%.
Specifically, the project aimed demonstrate that this updated innovative multi-layer material concept and technology can meet consumer product, quality and industrial scale production process requirements (absorbency, dryness, flexibility, comfort, etc.). The technology would also improve the cost-benefit ratio, while at the same time drastically reducing the use of material, volume and transport costs and impact.
The project also aimed to prove that the manufacturing and logistics related to the new single use pads offer environmental benefits as a result of the reduced material use. The overall lifecycle consists of less packaging, greater resource efficiency and reduced transport. Finally, the project aimed to showcase the technology in order to influence the European market and policy makers to shift towards a more eco-oriented product development.
RESULTS
The LIFE+ CELSTAB (CELlulose SusTainable ABsorbency) project improved sanitary pads throughout the product lifecycle. The developed production process uses less raw material, while at the same time producing a pad that is able to absorb more fluid for optimum protection.
The production process creates an innovative multilayer absorbent system combining two technologies: ‘Airlaid’ and ‘Spunlace’. The Airlaid structure, while only up to 3 mm thick, increases softness, using different natural pulp fibers. Spunlace is a technology for creating lofty and resilient non-woven structures – for CELSTAB only 1.2 mm thin. The multi-layer technologies were tested with consumers who showed a clear preference for the loftier, cushiony material structures. Material tests were carried out at several suppliers and at P&G pilot production lines in Crailsheim in Germany and Cincinnati in the US
The project team also sought to show the feasibility of sourcing required pulp from inside Europe, thus reducing transport costs and associated CO2 emissions. Tests with hardwood and softwood pulp showed very good results with equivalent fluid handling properties. In particular, the project demonstrated the benefits of a Scandinavian fibre
A Life Cycle Assessment study carried out during the project highlighted the following quantifiable benefits of the project technologies:
- 10-25% reduction of material use for all options of newly designed absorption systems, yielding average annual savings of 12 000 tons;
- 15-25% improvement in waste prevention, yielding average annual savings of 14 000 tons of waste and therefore a commensurate reduction of overall feedstocks in the product; and
- 20-30% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, yielding average annual savings of 45 000 tons GHG – driven by the localisation of the feedstock supply chain in the EU.
The multi-layer absorbent structure is expected to become a new gold standard. P&G reserved the intellectual property rights and had lodged five patents by the end of the project.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication plan (see "Read more" section).
