Disposal of Menstrual Products
1-2bn menstrual products are flushed down the toilet each year, which can end up in the ocean or contribute to fatbergs. Fatbergs are a mix of solidified cooking oil, and things such as wet wipes, cotton buds and period products that have been poured down the drain or flushed down the toilet. Sanitary products that get flushed down the toilet can end up in our oceans, harming marine life and breaking down into tiny, microscopic pieces of plastic.
You can recycle cooking oil at your local Household Waste Recycling centre. Find your local one here.
Please place sanitary waste, wet wipes and cotton buds in your residual waste bin, and DO NOT flush them down the toilet. Bioplastics cannot currently be recycled or composted in Devon so please place any products made from them in your residual waste bin. Find out about your local collection service here.
In Devon, our household waste is sent to an energy from waste plant where our rubbish is burnt at temperatures of over 850°C, so no sanitary products are sent to landfill in Devon. However, it’s estimated that across the UK 200,000 tonnes of sanitary waste is sent to landfill each year. Let’s aim to reduce our menstrual waste by switching to reusable products where we can and reuse them!
