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.
The Environment Agency is now calling for improvements to both disposable and reusable nappy systems to reduce negative environmental impacts.
Tricia Henton, director of environmental protection at the Environment Agency, said, 'We hope manufacturers of disposables will improve the environmental performance of their products, particularly the quantities going to landfill.
'Similarly, parents using reusables need to look at how they launder nappies. For instance, can the nappies be washed in a bigger load at a lower temperature?'
The research was welcomed by Tracy Stewart, director general of the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacture Association, who said, 'This will be a reassurance for many parents and will finally lay to rest many of the claims made about the environmental impacts of disposables.'
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