With this latest technology used diapers from Rubbish Collection can be converted to benches, garden furniture, decking, bollards, railway sleepers, fencing, roof tiles and cardboard being tested in Scotland. 36000 homes is being tested for collection of diapers on four councils across Fife, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and North Lanarkshire. This testing will be conducted to six months and if successful then it will be launch for a nationwide program if viable. (Please like, share or tweet)
The machine can also handle wet wipes, nappy sack and cotton wool products. "Babies used an average of 4.16 nappies per day, with more than 90% using disposables."
"The average child in Scotland goes through 4,000 nappies before they're potty trained, which is an awful lot going to landfill.
Jenny Sim of Zero Waste Scotland said:
"The local authorities in the pilot areas will be collecting the waste, they'll send it to a big treatment unit where the waste is heated up to 125 degrees to sterilize it and clean it. "The human waste is put to sewage, and the plastics and celluloid’s are then converted into useable products such as park benches, road signage, railway sleepers and decking. "It does make it so much easier for parents in these trial areas to do their bit and help the environment and help recycling in Scotland."
A mother said:
"It was "frightening" to think how many thousands of nappies she had sent to landfill over that period." "To use disposable nappies is so much more convenient for mums, so to have a scheme like this where they know that their nappies are not just going to lie in a landfill for hundreds of years - I think people will take up the opportunity to recycle them. "You've got all these (recycling) boxes already, so one more is not going to make any difference. "Also, it's going to be picked up weekly instead of lying in your bin for two weeks. As you can imagine, in the summertime that's not pleasant."
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
"Disposable nappies, although convenient, do have a huge impact on the environment with a staggering 450,000 ending up in landfill each day in Scotland. "This innovative new scheme is a fantastic step forward for recycling and makes it easier for parents to do their bit for the environment. "It's great that new technologies allow us to recycle even more materials. In this way, we can reuse our waste and treat it as a valuable resource with the potential to boost our economy."
Lain Gulland from Zero Waste Scotland said:
“Piloting different methods of collection for these products allow us to evaluate the system people prefer and are most likely to use. Turning nappies and other absorbent hygiene products into products like decking and benches might sound surprising, but putting them to good use is far better than sending them to landfill. I would urge those living in the pilot areas to take up the scheme.”
Danny Gibson from Stirling Council, said:
“Stirling Council is at the forefront of striving towards ‘Zero Waste'. Taking such a challenging waste as nappies out of the wastes stream is a real milestone in this journey. If we can recycle nappies, it helps us with our goal of sending minimal waste to be buried in landfill.”
Roy Brown, Chief Executive of Knowaste,said:
“Our plant is a specialist recycling facility, which is the first of its kind in the UK. We use new technology to allow us to turn absorbent hygiene products, previously unsuitable for recycling, into valuable plastics and fibres, which can then be used to make new products. “We are delighted to support the trial collection services in Scotland, which we hope will lead to a wider adoption of the recycling service across the country.”
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