In August 2001 WEN submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association leaflet entitled Nappy Information Service. WEN argued that the leaflet, addressed to parents and widely distributed to health services, constituted advertising. Our complaint said:"We are most concerned that the style and presentation of the leaflet is intended to make parents believe they are being given reliable and undisputed facts about the relative merits of disposable and reusable nappies when in fact it contains statements which are hotly disputed. We believe this leaflet clearly constitutes a piece of advertising." Most hotly disputed are the disposable industry's claims about the relative environmental impact of disposables and real nappies. The ASA published its ruling today, 3rd April 2002.

Statement in response to the ruling
We welcome the ASA recognition that the Nappy Information Service leaflet is advertising and would like everyone who has one of these leaflets to be aware of this point. This leaflet demonstrates how the NHS is permeated by advertising. As an advertising medium, the ASA concluded, the Nappy Information Service is not required to provide balanced impartial information on nappies but puts forward the case for disposable nappies from the manufacturers association, the AHPMA.

In its ruling on points 4 and 5 of the complaint [about the environmental impact claims], the ASA states: 'The Authority understood that assessment of the environmental impact of nappies depended on subjective interpretation of the importance of the various impacts that disposables and re-usable nappies had on the environment.' We would not expect the ASA to make a scientific judgement on what is a complex argument. WEN has studied all the available reports and analyses on the environmental impact of nappies and has concluded that disposables have a far greater overall environmental impact than cloth nappies.

We are supported in this position by many other organisations including LARAC:

"Nappies make up about 4% of the bins that local authorities empty on a weekly basis and when households have babies in them nappies can make up to about half the volume of the weekly bin. The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) is committed to reducing and recycling more waste and fully supports the work of WEN and other partners in providing parents with choices and alternatives to disposable nappies".

WEN is pleased that the ASA has ruled that disposable nappy manufacturers cannot claim that 80% of a disposable nappy is biodegradable and have been advised to amend their claim to 40%.

The ASA has allowed the disposable nappy manufacturers to make the conditional claim that disposables could help to minimise the risk of nappy rash. Having considered all the available research WEN maintains that the type of nappy is not a factor in the incidence of nappy rash.

The ASA has ruled that the AHPMA cannot state that laundry services are more expensive than disposable nappies because in some cases they are cheaper.

Date: 3rd April 2002

Click for press release about our original complaint.

The full text of the ASA's ruling can be found at www.asa.org.uk

For further information contact:
Maeve Murphy or Liz Sutton, WEN 020 7481 9004 email: nappies@wen.org.uk