Quantification of social equity in life cycle assessment for increased sustainable production of sanitary products in Uganda

Assessing the life cycle of a specific sanitary pad, MakaPads, in Uganda defines unique and vital measurements of social equity, especially for women laborers. A combined approach of social life cycle assessment, SLCA, and environmental life cycle assessment, ELCA, has been utilized to determine sanitary pads' social equity and environmental impacts. The development of the MakaPads product is an example of a design by Africans for Africans; whereas Libresse is an example of a European-designed product used by Africans. The ELCA and SLCA of both Libresse pads and MakaPads include the stages of raw material extraction, energy production, assembly, transport to or within Uganda, and incineration; and the contextualized economic costs of sanitary pads and income generation from the MakaPads factories. Two SLCA quantifiable characteristics that distinguish MakaPads from imported pads developed here are affordability and manufacturing wage impacts. We conclude first from the ELCA that the majority of environmental impacts for MakaPads are at least half of those of the Librese product and second from the SLCA that there are significant social benefits to local design and manufacturing of products for girls and women. Our recommendation is that Sub-Saharan African countries should encourage policies that support local design and manufacturing of sustainable products rather than being reliant on imported products which can have higher environmental impacts and lower social equity benefits.