The future of sustainable sanitary napkins: Application of biodegradable materials and waste management

Sanitary napkins are essential daily necessities for women and play a vital role in ensuring menstrual health. However, conventional disposable sanitary napkins exhibit significant unsustainability throughout their lifecycle, from raw material acquisition and manufacturing to waste disposal. Against the backdrop of intensifying global ecological issues, this review highlights the application potential of biodegradable materials in sanitary napkins. It outlines the latest research progress on biodegradable materials in hygiene product field from multiple dimensions, including material characteristics, production processes, and performance evaluation—while analyzing pathways for the recycling and resource recovery of hygiene product waste, thereby addressing the limitations of existing research, which often focuses on a single aspect. Finally, it focuses on the key challenges and future prospects facing biodegradable sanitary napkins, with a specific emphasis on promoting the industry's green transition through policy support. This review aims to advance the innovative application of biodegradable materials and provide a more comprehensive theoretical foundation and practical guidance for the sustainable development of biodegradable sanitary napkins.