An open-access study published on June 17, 2026 compares three disposable absorbent mats and one reusable mat using lifecycle assessment. Researchers from Leiden and Delft institutions examined material production, use, laundering, transport and disposal, with implementation at a Dutch hospital’s obstetric ward.
The functional unit is 1,000 mat uses. The baseline assumes 100 uses per reusable mat and equivalent clinical performance, rather than matching products by absorbed liquid volume. Under these assumptions, the reusable option had lower impacts in most assessed categories.
The findings concern the studied mats and local operating conditions, not all adult diapers. The authors report no study funding or competing interests; some inventory and laundering inputs came from suppliers.