Research Line: Urban–Rural Circularity / Funded by: NWO KIC Consumer Behaviour for a Circular System Transition

Disposable hygiene products, including baby nappies, menstrual products and incontinence pads, form a substantial yet underexposed waste stream. In the Netherlands alone, nappies and incontinence products generate around 400 kilotonnes of waste each year, roughly 6.1% of household waste by weight. Disposable menstrual products add another estimated 245 kilotonnes of CO₂ emissions per year from production alone. Reusable alternatives exist for all three product groups and offer demonstrable reductions in waste, emissions and household costs, yet disposables remain the default in shops, in care institutions and in everyday life.

INTRINSIC starts from the observation that the main barriers to wider uptake are not technological. They are behavioural, cultural, organisational and institutional. Disposables are routinised in maternity care, childcare and elderly care. Reusable products carry stigmas, are often only available online, and require an upfront investment that not every household can make. Taboos around menstruation, incontinence and nappies further limit open conversation and peer-to-peer learning. Shifting these patterns requires interdisciplinary research that connects consumer behaviour, business ecosystems and public policy.

Over four years and across three product groups, the project brings together universities, a university of applied sciences, municipalities, a province, businesses and care organisations to co-create and test the conditions under which reusable personal hygiene products can move from niche to norm. The Province of Noord-Brabant acts as the central point for the research, with municipalities serving as the practical scale at which national objectives, local infrastructures and resident concerns meet.

Objectives and Route to Impact

INTRINSIC works through three interconnected work packages, each addressing one component of the transition while feeding directly into the others.

1. From niche to norm: shifting the narrative around reusable hygiene products Led by Radboud University, this work package builds a comprehensive systems analysis of the individual, cultural and systemic factors that shape consumer behaviour for all three product groups. Through participatory systems mapping, co-designed interventions in selected municipalities, and a narrative intervention reframing the circular economy from sacrifice to wellbeing, the team tests how reward expectancies — hedonic, social and eudaimonic — can drive lasting behaviour change. The result is a set of behavioural intervention tools ready for scaling up.
2. Evaluating and contextualising circular business models for reusable hygiene products Led by Utrecht University, this work package investigates the root causes of logistical, commercial and organisational barriers facing providers of reusable products. Two phases of pilots in Noord-Brabant municipalities, combined with contextual embedding workshops, test how providers, infrastructural stakeholders (such as waste collectors and washing services) and use points (such as nurseries and care homes) can form a Circular Business Community. The work delivers business-as-usual scenarios, an ecosystem-building roadmap and concrete recommendations for new organisational and financial arrangements.
3. Policy transfer: from theory to practice Led by Utrecht University in collaboration with Wageningen University & Research, this work package maps existing public policies, regulations and industry standards relevant to reusable hygiene products, then co-designs and tests policy interventions through design thinking and randomised field experiments. Together with NEN, health insurers and care organisations, the team explores how interventions can scale in, out, up and deep, culminating in an evidence-based roadmap for policymakers, standards bodies and insurance providers.

Together, these work packages aim to make reusable nappies, menstrual products and incontinence materials more available, affordable and attractive, while creating the policy, business and behavioural conditions under which the transition can take root.

Contribution to Cross-EWUU Collaboration

INTRINSIC brings together complementary expertise from Utrecht University (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development; Utrecht Law School; School of Governance), Wageningen University & Research (Public Administration and Policy), Radboud University (Behavioural Science Institute) and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Psychology for Sustainable Cities), alongside societal partners with years of pioneering experience in the reusables sector.

The project is supported by the institute 4 a Circular Society (i4CS), which manages connections with partners and stakeholders, links the consortium to relevant circularity projects across the four alliance institutes, and ensures access to expertise on transdisciplinary research through the EWUU Centre for Unusual Collaborations. This cross-EWUU collaboration enables an integrated perspective on behaviour, business models and policy, while keeping the research grounded in the realities of municipalities, providers, care organisations and consumers.

Consortium

Academic partners

• Dr Arturo Castillo Castillo – Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development (Principal Investigator)
• Prof. dr Lars Tummers – Utrecht University, School of Governance
• Prof. dr Esther Papies – Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute
• Prof. dr Reint Jan Renes – Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
• Dr Olia Kanevskaia – Utrecht University, Utrecht Law School
• Dr Daniel Polman – Wageningen University & Research, Public Administration and Policy
• Carlijn Kappers, MSc – Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Societal core partners

• Elisah Pals – Zero Waste Nederland
• Hilde Beugelink – SUPZero
• Drs Sacha Tensen – EWUU institute 4 a Circular Society

Public co-funders Rijkswaterstaat, Province of Noord-Brabant, and the municipalities of Tilburg, Roosendaal, Etten-Leur, Helmond, Valkenswaard, Venlo and Groningen, together with waste management organisations HVC and CURE.

Private co-funders Providers of reusable nappies (Billie Wonder, Kaatje Katoen, Nappy’s), reusable menstrual products (Underwear Innovation, Moodies, Darner Design, Een Doosje voor een Doosje) and reusable incontinence products (Entusia), together with care organisations ‘s Heeren Loo and Calidus.

Cooperation partners NVRD, Koraal, Royal Netherlands Standardisation Institute (NEN), Zorgverzekeraars Nederland, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Urologie (NVU), and the municipalities of Duiven and Westervoort.

Project details

• Duration: 48 months
• Total budget: €2,506,660
• Funder: NWO, Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) – Consumer Behaviour for a Circular System Transition