Britain fights disposable 'nappies'

Local officials across Britain are offering incentives to parents who stop using disposable diapers, or "nappies," that are swamping landfill sites.

Various local authorities are offering various incentives, including paying parents up to $140 (80 pounds), to swap disposable diapers for the more environmentally friendly reusable cloth diapers, The Independent reported Tuesday.

With an average child using nearly 6,000 diapers before being toilet-trained, it's costing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to bury approximately three billion of the disposable type in landfills.

Some officials told The Independent they calculate a disposable diaper is discarded every 1.1 seconds in Britain and nearly all end up in landfills.

However, Britain's Environment Agency last year concluded traditional nappies were not entirely environmentally friendly, since they require the use of additional electricity to wash and dry them.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International