DIAPER DEBATE: CHANGE OR TOSS? RECYCLING HAS BEEN A SUCCESS ON MANY FRONTS, SHOULD BE KEPT.

Byline: Laurene Weste

Earlier this month, the Santa Clarita City Council voted 4-1 to continue studying the feasibility of the only diaper recycling program of its kind in the U.S.

Santa Clarita's small 231-household recycling demonstration pilot program is certainly not immune from controversy or criticism, as one would expect when a unique, cutting-edge program is launched. Despite the need for additional data to determine the recycling program's viability on a citywide basis, suffice it to say that the pilot program shows considerable promise - so much that diaper recycling deserves more study.

When the possibility of recycling diapers, and diverting human waste from our landfills, first came to the city of Santa Clarita in 2000, I was excited by the prospect. I knew from my review of the environmental impact of disposal diapers that the average baby uses 5,000 to 6,000 before being potty trained. This results in a total of 20 billion diapers being disposed in our landfills each year.

For this reason, and because of our city's growing number of young children, the city chose to invest $25,000 in a diaper recycling processor and to implement a six-month demonstration diaper recycling program.

To date the program has experienced significant success. Participation in the pilot program has been excellent with 98 percent of families in the selected geographic areas taking part in the pilot program. Clearly, a genuine desire exists among residents, particularly those with diaper-age children, to recycle diapers.

The set-out rate - the frequency at which eligible families set diapers out for pickup - was 74 percent, above the 70 percent minimum established by the city staff.

Aside from the short- and long-term goals of diverting greater amounts of Santa Clarita's trash from the waste stream to recycling, the benefits of recycling diapers are obvious, as anyone with young children can attest. Since disposable diapers are among the most common household items still sent to landfills, wouldn't it be ideal if the products used in disposable diapers - pulp and plastic - could be reused for other products rather than dumped in the ground to decompose over time? Equally important, by reducing waste going into landfills, we will preserve future open space from being used for this purpose.

While I am looking forward to reviewing the data on the amount of diapers that are recycled into paper and plastic products along with cost of operating a citywide diaper recycling program, I am troubled by the aggressive misinformation campaign spun at the May 13th City Council meeting by diaper industry representatives against this pilot program. Santa Clarita was deluged with a lobbying campaign one would expect in Sacramento or Washington, D.C.

Whenever I witness such a heavy-handed display of opposition, warning bells go off and they should for all Santa Clarita residents. Why would the diaper manufacturing industry fight so strenuously against a small, 231-household pilot program?

What does the diaper industry fear from our city's efforts to recycle its product and keep human waste out of landfills? Could it be that the diaper industry so desperately wants to avoid any focused discussion on its product's environmental costs that it is committed to fight any efforts that call attention to the true environmental impact of disposable diapers?

It appears the diaper industry subscribes to the theory that one successful recycling effort could lead to more efforts. That could then create the requirement worldwide for two or three companies that sell the overwhelming majority of disposable diapers to deal with the environmental impacts of their products. If there is nothing to fear, the diaper industry should join us in studying this issue.

If the pilot program proves successful, recycling disposable diapers will represent an important part of Santa Clarita's commitment to increasing the amount of trash it diverts from landfills. As such, naysayers or billion-dollar companies seeking to protect their bottom lines should not dismiss diaper recycling so quickly.