Conference presentation
Absorbent hygiene products for incontinence are diverting nutrients to landfill
IWA Nutrient Removal and Recovery Specialist Conference (Brisbane, Australia, 17/11/2024–21/11/2024)
20/11/2024
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Abstract
• Approximately 4-10% of the total urine produced by the Australian population is sent to landfill in AHPs
• The majority (81-92%) of the volume of all urine in AHPs going to landfill is produced by adults, not infants.
• Once food waste and garden organics are diverted from landfill, AHPs will likely be the dominant source of nutrients entering landfill.
Urine contributes 79%, 47% and 71% of N, P and K respectively in domestic wastewater (Larsen, Udert and Lienert, 2019). Absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) contain urine and faeces from people living with incontinence, but little has been done to understand the nutrients going to landfill in urine. Previous work has evaluated a middle range scenario showing that the total volume of waste generated by AHPs in Australia to be over 950 kt/y in 2030, with the majority of this ending up in the landfill of capital cities (Thompson Brewster et al 2022). In Australia, with an aging population, the number of adult AHPs being used will increase while those generated by infants are expected to remain steady over time.
Details
- Title
- Absorbent hygiene products for incontinence are diverting nutrients to landfill
- Creators
- Emma Thompson Brewster - Southern Cross UniversityBeth Rounsefell - The University of QueenslandKate R O’Brien - The University of QueenslandWilliam P Clarke - The University of Queensland
- Conference
- IWA Nutrient Removal and Recovery Specialist Conference (Brisbane, Australia, 17/11/2024–21/11/2024)
- Identifiers
- 991013248361302368
- Academic Unit
- Engineering; Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Conference presentation