The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Council has overturned its earlier adjudication upholding complaints by the disposable nappy industry against a Women's Environmental Network (WEN) information leaflet. It accepted WEN's appeal that the original decision was 'substantially flawed'. The decision is a landmark in the struggle between charities and big business over public access to contentious information.

The Council has found that the following statements were substantiated:
1.'The UK alone produces about 800,000 tonnes of nappy waste per year… the total national cost of this single use, limited customer product is £40 million a year'
4.'Use your money for better things! Savings from using real nappies for a first child alone can amount to £600!'

The complaints against the leaflet, which went out of print in March 2002, were lodged by the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association (AHPMA). AHPMA represents the interests of Procter & Gamble and Kimberly Clarke, the largest nappy manufacturers in the UK. The UK disposable nappy industry is worth nearly £500 million a year but its market is diminishing due to the fall in the birth rate. WEN promotes cloth nappies to reduce waste.

Nearly 3 billion disposable nappies are thrown away every year in the UK. For families with just one baby, disposable nappies can make up 50% of their weekly bin.

At a conference at Aston University on 10th February, Environment Minister Michael Meacher praised WEN for its work in promoting the use of real nappies to reduce the numbers of disposables going to landfill. He said "…I do support the innovative work that WEN is undertaking and the many exciting schemes which you are launching and the major contribution which … you are making to transforming the culture in this country away from throwaway towards recycling, reuse and recovery."

The AHPMA used the original ASA recommendations to undermine the real nappy campaign, suggesting that WEN's information was inaccurate and misleading and requesting local authorities and nappy companies to withdraw or re-write their promotional material with the guidance of the AHPMA. It is hoped that this latest ASA decision will mean that the disposables industry will desist from applying undue pressure on charities, small companies and local authorities and allow UK parents to make a properly informed choice.

WEN did not appeal points 2 and 5 of the case as references to concerns about synthetic chemicals in disposable nappies had already been updated in a subsequent leaflet prior to the complaint by the AHPMA, making an appeal an unnecessary waste of WEN's limited resources.

On the substantive points of waste figures and cost comparisons between real and disposable nappies, the Council has found in WEN's favour.

"The success of our appeal is a landmark in the struggle between an environmental charity and the huge companies which profit from environmentally costly products," said Ann Link, WEN Co-ordinator.
ENDS

For further information contact Elizabeth Hartigan or Liz Sutton, 020 7481 9004; Email: nappies@wen.org.uk

The full text of the ASA's revised decision is available at www.asa.org.uk

Notes to editors
1. INFORMATION: WEN regularly revises and updates its information and, since the publication of this leaflet, we have issued new data.
2. ADJUDICATION: The ASA appeals board has found that WEN's information was substantiated on both substantive points 1 and 4 of ASA Case BO2-03467. Full details of the adjudication may be found on the ASA website www.asa.org.uk
3. THE ASA APPEALS PROCEDURE: ASA code 68.36 outlines the appeals procedure:
'…In exceptional circumstances, Council can be asked to reconsider its adjudication. Written requests for a review should be sent within 14 days of notification of the adjudication to the Independent Reviewer of ASA Adjudications, Bloomsbury House, 74-77 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DA. They should come only from the complainant or from the advertiser's or industry complainant's Chairman, Chief Executive or equivalent.
There are two grounds on which such a request can be made:
- Where additional evidence becomes available.
- Where a substantial flaw in Council's adjudication can be demonstrated.
…Council's adjudication on reconsidered cases is final.'
WEN requested the review on the grounds that there was a substantial flaw in the adjudication.
4. MICHAEL MEACHER'S SPEECH: The full text can be found on www.wen.org.uk/nappies
5. REAL NAPPY WEEK 7th -13th April 2003: The annual focus for the UK's leading waste prevention campaign, jointly run by WEN and the Real Nappy Association.
6. WASTE REDUCTION: Nearly 3 billion nappies are thrown away every year in the UK. Nappies make up 50% of the waste from a household with just one baby. With the cost to each local authority in hundreds of thousands of pounds per year on disposal (Bristol City, for example, spends £500,000 per year) and set to rise dramatically from £13 to £35 per tonne, it is not surprising that nappy schemes now play a key role in local authorities' waste strategies.
7. COST: Home laundered nappies can save parents up to £500. You can kit out your baby in real nappies on the high street for under £60. This includes all the nappies and waterproof covers needed for the whole of your baby's nappy wearing life. The same amount of money will only buy twelve weeks of disposables. Even taking into account the total cost of home-laundering, approximately £50 per year, the savings are still considerable.
8. HEALTH: Why put your baby's bottom in a synthetic chemical environment when you could choose a natural product? Disposable nappies are made of superabsorbent chemicals, paper pulp and plastics while most real nappies are made of natural fabrics. If you want the best solution, free of pesticides and other synthetic chemicals, organic cotton and hemp nappies and organic wool waterproof overpants are available at reasonable cost.
9. AHPMA:The AHPMA represents the combined interests of Arquest Ltd, Kimberly-Clark Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK and SCA Hygiene Products Ltd.
10. ABOUT WEN: WEN is a national charity and membership organisation which campaigns on environmental and health issues from a women's perspective. It educates, informs and empowers women and men who care about the environment. The Real Nappy Project is funded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound fund set up by Biffa Waste Services using landfill tax credits.