A Bristol company which creates compostable disposable period products has announced a new composting partnership.
Natracare, which was established by Susie Hewson in 1989, has partnered with UK wide charity Social Farms and Gardens to support communities who farm, garden and grow together.
Ms Hewson was recently recognised in the King's Birthday Honours List 2023 and was awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to women and the environment.
The partnership will see Natracare provide composting bins to Social Farm and Gardens’ specially selected community garden projects, starting off with a number of different areas of the UK, as a pilot scheme in which they will compost garden and food waste, as well as Natracare period products.
Natracare products are designed to have minimal environmental impact in their making, and after use, to be disposed as part of bio-recycling systems, not into landfill. They have been independently tested to EN13432/ASTM D6400 and proven compostable in managed industrial hot composting systems. They are free of heavy metals and other pollutants, and pass Ecotoxicity testing, so that the material produced from them when composted, can be used as a mulch to improve soil, or as a medium to grow fruit and veg.
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Throughout the ongoing partnership, each Social Farms and Gardens community garden group will manage and maintain a hot composting process and monitor the progress of the composting.
The Social Farms and Gardens partnership is the latest initiative in Natracare’s recently launched project #BeKind campaign, designed to draw attention to the need to design health and well-being products for bio-loop systems, and to consider the impacts on wellbeing and our environment, of consumer choices.
Ms Hewson commented: “We’re leading the way in proving that there is a better alternative to plastic-based period products, with our products being made from sustainable sourced, organic and bio-based materials, which also happen to be ideal raw materials for composting. The ultimate aim is to stop compostable product going into landfill.
"Our goal is to help more communities adopt greener habits and to help people understand the benefits of composting as a way to recycle. We have found a natural synergy with Social Farms and Gardens, whose mission, like ours, is to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities, and the environment, through nature-based activities, so we’re really pleased to be running the pilot scheme with them and can’t wait to see the results.”
Sophie Antonelli from Social Farms and Gardens said: “We have almost 3,000 members all over the UK who care passionately about their local community and environment. Compostable period products are another step towards the closed-loop systems our planet needs, and we’re thrilled that through this partnership with Natracare our members can be a part of that. Many community gardens already have composting toilets, so this pilot feels like the next logical step. The hot bins are going to be such an interesting talking point in the gardens and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they get on."
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