These are the core concerns that drive our newsroom-defining topics that are of great significance to the global economy.

These are our most ambitious editing projects. enjoy!

Our emails will shine in your inbox, and there will be something new every morning, afternoon and weekend.

If Japan succeeds in advancing the adult diaper transformation plan, Japanese nursing staff will find that their workload will be reduced a lot.

According to local media reports (link in Japanese), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan formulated the first development roadmap for flushable adult diapers last year, and the prototype may become a reality this year.

“If the plan is realized, the burden on nursing facility staff will be reduced,” Masayuki Muraoka, an employee of the Sewer Planning Department of the Ministry of Lands and Lands, told the Asahi newspaper. "I hope it [diaper flushing system] will play the role of social infrastructure in an aging society."

In Japan, the most aging country in the world, products that serve the elderly are a huge business. According to Bloomberg (pay zone), Unicharm, Japan's largest diaper manufacturer, stated that its sales of adult diapers surpassed that of baby diapers in 2011. In addition to manufacturers of personal care products, Nippon Paper is also expanding production facilities for adult diapers to take advantage of the rapidly growing market. Market research firm Euromonitor estimates that the size of the Japanese "adult incontinence" market in 2016 was approximately US$1.8 billion, accounting for approximately 20% of the global adult diaper market that year.

However, the increasing use of incontinence products is a huge burden for the elderly in Japan and those caring for them. An employee in the elderly care industry in Nagoya told the Asahi newspaper that in its nursing facility, 20 elderly residents usually produce about three 90-liter (24-gallon) garbage bags full of stinky diapers every day.

According to Japanese bathroom equipment manufacturer Lixil (Japanese link), approximately 80% of the ingredients in these diapers are liquid, which means that separating these wastes from the rest of the diapers will greatly reduce the burden on caregivers.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, other members of the diaper research team were criticized by other members of the diaper research team for worrying about the impact of rinsing particles that would not decompose on the infrastructure and the environment. . newspaper. Therefore, two alternative plans are being considered.

The first involves the use of a machine to separate the diaper from its contents so that only the excrement is flushed, while the diaper is discarded in a regular trash can. On the other hand, the machine crushes the used diapers and separates the crushed feces for washing. According to reports, the Ministry considers the first of these two plans to be the most feasible.

Some Japanese companies have responded to the government's call for flushable diapers. Lixiu said in October that it is developing a diaper crusher and hopes to be fully operational by 2021. According to reports, the Ministry of Land and Resources also asked Panasonic to develop a prototype device to separate feces from diapers.

If Japan develops better adult diapers, there may be a market even abroad, because the population in other places is also aging. Euromonitor predicts that from 2015 to 2020, the sales of adult diapers in the United States will increase by 48%, while the sales of baby diapers will increase by 2.6%.

📬 Start drinking coffee and daily briefing (BYO coffee) every morning.

By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz privacy policy.

© 2021 Quartz Media, Inc. All rights reserved.