Improper disposal of diapers chokes Mbale City
A woman picks kaveeras from River Nabuyonga in Mbale City for sale. She said most of the dumped polythene bags contain diapers. PHOTO | PHOEBE MASONGOLE
What you need to know:
- Mr Steven Masiga, a researcher and local governance expert, said Mbale City authorities should gazette places for disposing diapers and build incinerators for burning waste.
Local authorities in Mbale City have decried improper disposal of diapers, with several of them dumped on the pathways, trenches and garbage sites despite the health risks associated with them.
Environment and health experts say diapers destroy the environment since they contain absorbent chemicals that are hazardous to human life.
Ms Rhoda Nyaribi, the city’s senior environmental officer, at the weekend said: “They [diapers] increase the burden on the landfill sites and people may come in contact with the waste matter that contains viruses.”
According to health officials, the viruses include gastrointestinal, hepatitis, salmonella, and norovirus.
Diapers are single pieces of soft cotton or thick materials mostly worn by infants who are not yet mature to use toilets or can still experience bedwetting.
They are also used by adults with certain health complications.
Ms Nyaribi says as a city, they are designing a door-to-door sensitisation programme to educate people about the dangers of polluting the environment with diapers.
Mr Ahmed Kitutu, a cyclist at Kumi Road Taxi Stage, told Daily Monitor that diapers have been dumped everywhere.
“It is now a routine for us to always examine ourselves before returning to the public or you may be having diapers under your shoes after walking in corridors,” he said.
Mr Sam Ogoola, a resident of Natamala Ward in the Industrial City Division, said: “The water bodies are being polluted and contaminated, yet many people depend on them for domestic water purposes” .
“There is too much stench emanating from used diapers on trenches. We don’t have gazetted dumping places,” Ms Robinah Nandutu, another city resident, said.
Mr Denis Ocaya, a paediatrician, said diapers have chemical products such as synthetic fibers and dyes, which are dangerous to the soil.
“These chemical products used are hazardous to the soil. They take a long time to decompose hence posing a danger to the environment,” he said.
Ms Lydia Wokande, an employee with National Water and Sewerage Corporation in Mbale, said reckless disposal of diapers has blocked several sewer lines.
Mr Levy Brian Kanene, the diaper standard developer at Uganda National Bureau Of Standards (UNBS), said sensitisation is key in mitigating the challenge.
“As UNBS, we check performance, packaging, and labeling requirements, but we also warn the public on littering,” Mr Kanene said.
About 85 percent of modern breastfeeding mothers prefer diapers for their infants and themselves, especially in cities and towns, according to the authorities.
Information from Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) estimates that the “baby diapers segment amounts to at least $99.58 million in 2023, an equivalent of Shs365b per annum. The market is expected to grow annually by 9.10 percent from 2023 to 2027”.
