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Disposable nappy Recycling in the UK

MyZeroWaste.comBlog by Mrs. Green

September 23, 2009

Recycling nappies to make roof tiles!

It’s no surprise that a recent survey showed 95% of parents wanted disposable nappy recycling as part of their standard household kerbside collection.

It seems guilt runs high among parents when it comes to ditching disposables in the landfill; with 93% of parents feeling unease when throwing nappies in the bin.

And yes, we could all use washable nappies like the good old days, but we live in an era of convenience and busy schedules which doesn’t always involve soaking buckets and a line full of freshly washed nappies.

More than three billion nappies are thrown away every year in the UK, so it’s a huge problem in terms of waste. Up until now, the only answer has been to landfill or incinerate them.

However, thanks to a company called Knowaste Ltd, the UK’s first nappy recycling plant is opening in Birmingham 2010!

I’ve been having a yarn with Bill Knoupe – Knowaste Director – who tells me that the plant will be able to recycle approximately 36,000 tonnes of nappies and other absorbent hygiene products including bedliners, and incontinence products.

Knowaste Ltd have established a recycling process that sanitises every nappy and enables 98% of the disposable nappy to be removed from the waste stream. And, if you’re wondering what happens to the plastic, it can be recycled into a variety of products including plastic cladding, bicycle helmets and roof tiles. Where there’s muck there’s brass!

The roof tiles are currently available through Knowaste’s latest venture – SmallPlanet Building Products. The plastic is currently sourced in Belgium, but once the Birmingham plant is up and running, Knowaste hope to reduce their carbon footprint by recycling and manufacturing all the tiles in Britain.

Bill was quick to tell me that the recycled roofing tiles are UV resistant, cheap to buy and quick and easy to install.

The great news is that Knowaste are working with Local Authorities to get kerbside collection of disposable nappies up and running. They are currently running trials in Birmingham and hope to expand collections across the UK.

I’m so excited about sharing this story with you as many parents feel such guilt about using disposable nappies. Let’s hope it takes off soon and we can start turning our “waste” (boom boom) into a valuable resource.

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