Since a disposable diaper is made of many different materials layered together, a biodegradable claim about one of them only speaks for that one material. And it doesn’t tell you much about what happens after the diaper is thrown away, since the conditions in a lab and the conditions in a landfill are very different.
The claims worth trusting are the ones that tell you which component, which test, what conditions, and what time frame. This page goes through each of those, why landfills change the picture, and exactly where Change™ stands on every component.
Why a whole-diaper claim is hard to make
Every disposable diaper is made from several materials working together: a top sheet, an absorbent core, a wrap that holds the core in place, a moisture barrier, elastics at the legs and waist, fastening tabs, and the adhesive that keeps it all together. Ours has fifteen components, and we recognize that for the whole diaper to biodegrade, every one of those materials has to break down, not just some of them.
The Federal Trade Commission sets a high bar here. Its Green Guides say that anyone making an unqualified degradable claim should have “competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire item will completely break down and return to nature” within a reasonably short time after it’s thrown away. They go a step further, saying unqualified degradable claims are deceptive for items that usually end up in landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities, “because these locations do not present conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year” (16 CFR 260.8). Used diapers go into the household trash, and household trash goes to a landfill or an incinerator.
Some states go even further. California law prohibits selling a plastic product labeled “biodegradable,” “degradable,” or “decomposable,” or one that suggests it will break down in a landfill or other environment, outside a few narrow exceptions (California Public Resources Code section 42357). CalRecycle, the state’s recycling agency, explains why: how much and how quickly something breaks down depends on how it’s built, what it’s made of, what’s attached to it, and the conditions around it (CalRecycle, truth-in-labeling laws).
What a biodegradable claim should tell you
Use this as a checklist for any diaper, including ours. A claim that can't answer these questions is just a word on a package, not evidence.
| Question | What a complete answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Which component? | The material, for example: the superabsorbent polymer or the top sheet vs. "the diaper" or "our materials" |
| Which test? | A named standard method, such as an ASTM or ISO number, and whether the material or the finished product was tested |
| Under which conditions? | With or without oxygen, what temperature, and what the test was set up to imitate: an industrial compost facility, an anaerobic digester, soil or water |
| Over what time frame, with what result? | How long the test ran and how much of the material broke down in that time |
| Who tested it, and when? | The lab's name, the date and a report number you can ask for |
| What happens after you throw it away? | A plain statement of where the used product actually goes, and whether the claim applies there |
Test conditions, explained
Biodegradation is what happens when microorganisms break a material down into water, carbon dioxide or methane, and biomass. How far and how fast that goes depends on where the material ends up. Standard lab tests are designed to imitate specific environments, and a result in one environment doesn’t carry over to another.
- Industrial composting. ASTM D6400 is a specification for labeling plastics designed to be composted in municipal or industrial facilities, where the compost pile runs hot and has plenty of oxygen (ASTM D6400). It isn’t a home-compost standard, so a product that meets it is made for a facility that accepts it, not for a backyard bin.
- Oxygen-free, high-solids conditions. ASTM D5511 measures how much of a plastic’s carbon turns into gas when it sits, without oxygen, in a dense mix seeded with material from digesters that treat household waste (ASTM D5511). It often comes up in conversations about landfills because it’s oxygen-free, but a controlled lab digester still isn’t a landfill. A related method written to imitate accelerated landfill conditions, ASTM D5526, is listed by ASTM as withdrawn in 2025 (ASTM D5526).
- Soil and water. Other methods test how materials break down in soil or water. Passing one of those tells you nothing about compost or a landfill, and the same is true the other way around.
So when a brand says a material is biodegradable, it’s worth asking which of these they mean, because the answer changes what the claim is really worth to you.
Why landfill conditions matter
It might be surprising, but modern landfills aren’t designed to break trash down. They’re designed to hold it. Waste is packed tightly and covered over, so very little oxygen can get in, and the small amount that does decompose breaks down without oxygen, releasing methane along the way. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranks municipal solid waste landfills as the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the country, making up about 14.4 percent in 2022 (EPA, basic information about landfill gas).
This is exactly why the FTC handles landfill claims with so much care, and why a good result in a lab can’t promise anything about what happens in a landfill. So if you see a diaper that says it will break down in a landfill in a certain number of years, look for the test behind that number, and if it isn’t named, that tells you something too.
Red flags on a package
- “Biodegradable” and nothing more. Without knowing which component, which test, or which conditions, the word alone doesn’t tell you very much.
- A big percentage on the front. When a package lists a percentage of “biodegradable materials,” it’s usually counting the share of materials by weight, which isn’t the same as how much of the used diaper will break down, or where.
- “Plant-based”. Being made from plants says where a material started, not where it ends up, and some plant-based plastics still need an industrial facility to break down.
- “Compostable” with no details. Home composting and industrial composting are very different environments, so unless a claim says home compostable, it most likely means a facility.
- A breakdown time with no test attached. If a diaper says it breaks down in a certain number of years, look for the method, the lab, and the date behind that number.
Where Change stands, component by component
We don’t call the whole diaper biodegradable, because we’re not there yet. What we say on our site is that it’s made with biodegradable components, and here’s what that looks like in practice.
- The Super Absorbent core. Ours is the world’s first and only biodegradable Super Absorbent core. It isn’t made from fossil fuels, and a certified third-party lab has independently tested it to biodegrade. It pulls wetness in and away from your baby’s skin. We haven’t shared the test method, conditions, lab, or date on this site yet, but the lab summary is on its way, and once it’s up you’ll be able to read it against the checklist above. Until then, we don’t make any claim about where or how quickly it breaks down after use. If you’re curious about what the beads are and why every disposable diaper has them, take a look at what are the beads inside a diaper.
- The cotton. About a third of the diaper by weight is 100% cotton, including the top sheet, the leg cuffs, the ears, and the outer cover, so cotton is the only thing that touches your baby. Cotton is a plant fiber, not a plastic, but since we haven’t published a biodegradation test for our cotton fabric, we don’t make a test claim for it here.
- The rest of the core. The absorbent core makes up about half of the diaper, and it’s our Super Absorbent core mixed through totally chlorine-free fluff pulp.
- The ADL and barrier film. About a tenth of the diaper is PLA, a polymer made from plant starch, which we use in the ADL (the acquisition distribution layer that helps spread moisture through the core), along with the thin layers around the core, the waistband, and the tabs. The barrier film is also made from PLA, makes up a few percent of the diaper, and sits between the core and the cotton outer cover, so it never touches your baby. Both are biodegradable.
- Elastics and adhesives. These make up about 2% of the diaper by weight, and they’re the parts we’re still working to replace, so we don’t make a biodegradation claim for them.
And here’s the part that matters most for this question. A used Change diaper goes in your household trash, just like any other disposable, and we don’t claim it will break down in a landfill, in a home compost bin, or within any particular amount of time. You can find every component and its share of the diaper on our materials page, so you can see exactly which parts a claim covers and which ones it doesn’t.
A quick recap
- A biodegradable component tells you about one material, not the whole diaper.
- A claim you can trust names the component, the test, the conditions, and the time frame.
- What happens in a lab isn’t what happens in a landfill, and used diapers end up in a landfill or an incinerator.
- If a brand can’t tell you all four, it’s okay to ask, and we’re always happy to answer the same questions about ours.
Looking for a diaper with only 100% cotton touching your baby and the world’s first and only biodegradable Super Absorbent core inside? See sizes and buying options. Have a question about a material or a test? We’d love to hear from you, so reach out anytime.
Last updated October 14, 2026. Weights are rounded from the Change materials list of September 15, 2026. Legal references are summaries for shoppers, not legal advice.