The research may come as a surprise to supporters of reusables - 60 per cent of whom say they use them for environmental reasons.
The Environment Agency conducted a year-long assessment of the environmental impacts of the manufacture, use and disposal of three nappy systems: disposables, reusable terry nappies washed at home and reusables washed by a professional laundry.
The study concluded there was 'little or nothing to choose' between reusables and disposables in terms of environmental impact. Although disposable nappies produce vast quantities of waste - around 2.8 billion nappies are dumped in landfill sites every year - the energy and chemicals used to launder cloth nappies were found to be just as damaging.
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