IIT-Delhi startup Sanfe launches reusable sanitary pads with lifespan of 2 years

With the increasing amount of plastic waste created by the women's sanitary products, companies worldwide are coming up with innovative ways to environment-friendly products while keeping the cost down of the product. In that direction, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi-incubated startup has come up with plastic-free reusable sanitary napkins that can last for up to two years. 

Sanfe claims to have designed first reusable sanitary pads, made with composite banana fiber, which can last up to two years.

Developed by Sanfe's founders Archit Agarwal and Harry Sehrawat, these reusable sanitary pads can be used up to 120 times after washing them in cold water with detergent after every use. 

A pack of two pads is priced at Rs 199.

"The reusable pads are ultra-thin and are highly absorbent with Quadrant True Lock Technology which makes the pad leakproof and avoids creating any rashes. A patent has also been filed for the design," a statement from the startup said. 

The two students at the IIT-Delhi also got some inputs from several Professors on the design and development of the product.

The pad is made up of four layers of different fabrics: Polyester Pilling, Terry and Banana Fibers including viscose and Polyester Fibers and Cotton Polyurethane Laminate.

Sanfe said it was trying to address the huge problem of disposable pad waste burdening the planet. Quoting data from Menstrual Hygiene Alliance of India (MHAI), it said that there are almost 336 million menstruating women in India, of which 36% use disposable sanitary pads summing up to 121 million. 

"India has approximately 12.3 billion disposable sanitary napkins to be taken care of every year, and a majority of these are non-biodegradable. Most of these sanitary napkins are made of synthetic materials and plastic, which can take more than 50-60 years to decompose. This enormous amount of menstrual waste is usually dumped in landfills, thrown in open spaces and water bodies, burnt, buried (shallow burial) or flushed down toilets. These disposal techniques create a hazard for the environment. For instance, burning releases carcinogenic fumes in the form of dioxins creating an air pollution hazard, putting this waste in landfills only adds to the burden of waste, and so on," it said. 

The use of reusable pads has already been introduced in African countries where government bodies, NGOs and the UN have distributed the reusable pads to school girls under sustainable menstrual hygiene.

Speaking on the launch event, Aggarwal said, "“Due to the taboo around it, women hygiene has been neglected in thought and talk. With our innovations in women hygiene, we want to empower women and make their life simpler."

"Even for women welfare, Government and NGOs regularly distribute subsidized disposable sanitary napkins in rural and semi urban areas which is a huge cost and harm to environment accounting only for a short term solution. We urge these organizations to switch to Reusable Pads under #IBleedGreen movement and can save upto 75% of the cost," he said. 

Prof Srinivasan Venkataraman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at IIT-Delhi commended the efforts of Sanfe. “This startup has carved a niche in the domain of women healthcare and hygiene with the launch of another useful product. All the products of Sanfe cater to the important needs of women, use simple science and are sold at affordable prices in the market,” he said.