Welcome to Maryann Crystal's blog: What is the best way to dispose of sanitary pads?

Arpita Bhagat

Founder at The Kachra Project (2014-present)

50w ago

There is no consensus on the disposal of sanitary pads. They fall under absorbent hygiene product waste which includes diapers, cloth pads too.

Consider the components of a sanitary napkin. It is made up of plastic, wood cellulose and silicon paper etc and is therefore, non-biodegradable waste (waste that cannot decompose in nature).

This creates the problem of classifying it into separate waste categories so it’s disposal and also segregation is proper.

There are no concrete laws in place for menstrual waste management in India. It is treated as reject waste and one possible categorization under sanitary waste is it being treated as bio-medical waste.

However, the SWM Rules were revised in India in 2016 according to which:

Responsibilities of Generators have been introduced to segregate waste in to three streams, Wet (Biodegradable), Dry (Plastic, Paper, metal, wood, etc.) and domestic hazardous wastes (diapers, napkins, empty containers of cleaning agents, mosquito repellents, etc.) and handover segregated wastes to authorized rag-pickers or waste collectors or local bodies.
Used sanitary waste like diapers, sanitary pads should be wrapped securely in pouches provided by manufacturers or brand owners of these products or in a suitable wrapping material and shall place the same in the bin meant for dry waste / non- bio-degradable waste.
The bio-degradable waste should be processed, treated and disposed of through composting or bio-methanation within the premises as far as possible. The residual waste shall be given to the waste collectors or agency as directed by the local authority.

So, you see the problem?

Putting the sanitary napkin into “Dry waste” segregation bin would not solve the problem nor would putting them into “domestic hazardous waste category” because a) it is ultimately all ending up in the landfill, and
b) the definition of hazardous waste not being clear means producing mixed waste which is counter-productive. The waste ends up getting “illegally” burned or chewed upon by animals.

Nevertheless, here’s the protocol for proper disposal of sanitary napkins:

This doesn’t solve the crisis of menstrual hygiene waste. Wrapping another layer of plastic or paper adds to the issue of managing waste. There is no proper protocol in place - incineration or burial- the current strategies employed are highly debatable.

Best practices for waste collection and disposal
Notwithstanding the problematic categorization of menstrual hygiene waste, it is imperative to:
prohibit the incineration of menstrual hygiene waste where the product contains chlorinated wood pulp and plastic.prohibit flushing of menstrual hygiene waste down the toilets as they lead to clogging sewers.
Source segregation, sterilization by autoclaving/microwaving, followed by recycling and composting of the various layers are recommended as the best practices. Companies such as Knowaste and Envirocomp in UK and New Zealand now use such technology to process sanitary waste.

Hope this helps!

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