Minimising the environmental impact of disposable nappies is very important to manufacturers. Continuous innovation and new technology ensure that the impact caused by disposable nappies is constantly lowered. A Life Cycle Assessment report on disposable and cloth nappies published by the UK Government Environment Agency in 2005 confirmed that there is ‘little or no’ difference in the overall level of environmental impact of disposable nappies and washable nappies. This is largely due to the fact that disposable nappies contribute to household waste while washable nappies consume energy, water and detergents. There are many factors which must be taken into account when calculating the overall impacts of any product, for nappies these include raw materials, transportation, manufacturing processes, in-use practices, laundry for cloth nappies, and disposal. There have been significant improvements to disposable nappies in recent years, for example a 40% reduction in weight and volume, shrink wrapping in single film packaging and increased efficiency. All of these modifications and improvements mean a lowered environmental impact. Nappies are compatible with prevalent forms of waste management, including waste to energy technologies and industrial composting. However most waste in the UK is currently landfilled as we are only starting to see widespread implementation of alternative technologies. Reducing the amount of biodegradable household waste which goes to landfill is important for the UK so it can meet EU targets and for this reason it is important that we move away from over dependency on landfill. Disposable nappies are only a small fraction of household waste and an even smaller fraction of landfill waste. They up around 2.4% of household waste and around 0.1% of waste which goes to landfill. This is because household waste is only a fraction of landfill waste, the majority of landfill waste is commercial and industrial waste. Biodegradability is desirable for some forms of waste management and in particular for incoming technologies. A used nappy and its contents will be around 80% biodegradable.