вЂњSuddenly, we could create a much more compact diaper that was even more absorbent.вЂќ вЂњIt was originally developed for agriculture, but it was a game changer when it came to diaper innovation,вЂќ Keighley says. They hit a major breakthrough in 1980 when a super absorbent polymer material hit the market. Keighley says his team worked on creating better-fitting leg cuffs and developing machinery to crank out large numbers of diapers. After studying engineering in college, he joined Procter & Gamble in 1977 to become a Pampers diaper engineer. James Keighley saw this process firsthand. Throughout the вЂ™60s and вЂ™70s, the two conglomerates continued to make improvements to the diaper, while heavily marketing the products to consumers. In 1961, Procter & Gamble launched Pampers seven years later, Kimberly Clark launched Huggies. In 1948, Johnson and Johnson developed the first mass-market version of this product. This eventually became the worldвЂ™s first disposable diaper. Then, in the mid-1940s, a young American mom named Marion Donovan invented a baby вЂњpantвЂќ that included a plastic layer, cutting up shower curtains and nylon parachute material for early prototypes. If babies wore them at all, diapers were made from cloth, which meant frequent leaks and hours of washing. Convenience, But At A CostДЇor most of human history, caring for infants was a very messy business. But there are many challenges to scaling, from finding factories willing to try new materials to convincing parents that eco-friendly diapers are just as effective. This new generation of diapers has the potential to spur broader change in the industry by forcing the incumbents to improve the sustainability of their products.

But over the past five years, the pace of innovation has sped up, with a wave of eco-friendly startups-including Kudos, Freestyle, Dyper, Nest, and Coterie-redesigning the diaper. Fifteen years ago, several brands began developing diapers that included more natural materials, including Seventh Generation and Honest. Today, diapers make up 4% of American landfills.Д«ut change is afoot in the diaper world. Since plastic doesnвЂ™t biodegrade, these diapers will take centuries to decompose, breaking into tiny particles called microplastics that are known to end up in the food chain, harming animals and humans. The problem is that theyвЂ™re made almost entirely of petroleum-derived plastic, from the polyester exterior to a core of hyper absorbent pellets. These brands have designed effective diapers that cost around $0.37 a pop. For half a century, the $79 billion global diaper industry has been dominated by Huggies and Pampers, which continue to control around 80% of the market.

Kudos diapers