While the end-of-life options for nonwovens are varied and continue to be developed, stricter legislation in many countries is likely to put further pressure on manufacturers, especially in respect of personal hygiene articles and medical disposables.
Sustainable Nonwovens asked Ed Krisiunas, president of WNWN (Waste Not, Want Not) International and involved in the healthcare waste industry for over 20 years, for his predictions.

You recently took part in a special meeting on waste disposal held by EDANA (the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association). How aware were you of the differing roles of nonwovens prior to this, and were you surprised by some of the end-use applications

I am surrounded by so many products made of nonwoven material on a day to day basis – we all are – and I didn’t even realise it! That was most striking to me. The range and diversity of materials and their applications was an eye-opener. They may be nonwoven but they are clearly woven into the fabric of day to day life. It was fascinating, and the social impact with some products is even more humbling.

What did you come away from the meeting thinking the industry should do to better promote the benefits of nonwovens?

This is an ‘out of sight out of mind’ industry, that’s the problem. As I already said, we are surrounded by these products and don’t even know it, so an ad campaign – ‘We’ve got you covered!’ – should be well received.

We understand you have had a lot of experience in assessing the waste generated by medical nonwoven disposables. What positive measures do you see being achieved in this specific area?

The healthcare industry moved away from many forms of reusable products to disposables years ago. What is happening now is an analysis of those disposables and looking at methods of recycling. It is clear the in many areas, the single use products do provide benefits over  reusables.

How visible do you think absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) are in the waste stream? Will this become more of a problem?

If an obvious comes to mind, it’s diapers. The most recent generations are very familiar with these products – having had twins in 1989 I can speak personally. I used many a diaper and most – but not all – of my friends with children did the same. The waste management industry normally looks at waste in a broad context today as compared to 30 years ago. More recycling takes place and some areas have installed energy from waste facilities. The challenge will be transferring these successes around the world.

Is it primarily a problem in developed regions of the world?

Different locations, different challenges. Having travelled to many developing countries, where water at times is a scare commodity, the ability to wash diapers is a real problem. Disposables offer an option. The challenge then becomes their disposal. The environmental sensitivity barometer needs to be evaluated in each location.

What solutions do you think are likely to be adopted in the next five, or maybe ten years?

In all facets of life, as well as business, the creative juices are flowing on addressing more efficient products and practices with less impact on the environment. We have already seen the development of better diapers – smaller, lighter, more absorbent. That’s the product piece. Can we now find a disposal practice/system that has even less impact?

Do you think legislation against AHPs might be an option in some regions?

A cost benefit analysis needs to be conducted – waste management practices vary around the world and any legislation must be pragmatic and implementable.

What do you think developed countries can learn from waste disposal methods in developing ones?

There is much to recover from the waste stream! And developed countries do not do as good of a job at recovery. The interesting part would be to analyze the social/psychological component to these ‘systems’ in developing countries. They work well in certain parts of the world – why?

And what can developed countries pass on to developing ones?

Developed countries have much to share on health and safety, standardisation of practices and mechanistic approaches to waste management. The challenge is to integrate this information and practices, given the limitations of developing countries. Adding machinery to replace workers may have more of a negative than positive impact.

Please tell us a little about your organisation and its role.

I have spent the past 22 years in the healthcare waste industry. Previous to that, I also worked in hospital in microbiology and infection control. I see myself as described above – someone coming from the developed world and sharing my knowledge to improve healthcare waste management practice as well as health and safety and infection control in the context of the socio-economic-political environment I am surrounded by.


Ed Krisiunas is the president of WNWN (Waste Not, Want Not) International and has been involved in the healthcare waste industry for over 20 years. His experiences cover all facets of the healthcare waste management arena, from assessment of treatment technologies to the development and implementation of waste management programmes at a national level for several countries.
Ed also maintains a keen interest in infection prevention and clinical microbiology, and is currently co-chair of the IFIC Special Interest Group on Safe Injection Practices and Disposal.
He is a referee for the Journal of Hospital Infection and has contributed to the soon to be published 2nd edition of the World Health Organisation’s ‘Blue Book’ or  Management of Waste from Healthcare Activities and Concepts in Infection Control issued by the IFIC (International Federation of Infection Control).