A trial to recycle nappies and transform them into road surfacing will start in Mid Devon in April.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Swindon Borough Council discussed the idea as part of efforts to increase recycling rates.
Children’s nappies and other absorbent hygiene products will be collected during the three-month pilot covering between 150 and 200 properties. Recycled nappies are used in asphalt for road surfacing in Wales. No local authorities in England currently offer this form of recycling, although some trials are taking place.
Mid Devon District Council is in discussions with NappiCycle to start a trial in April similar to one conducted by East Devon District Council in September, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The company uses a process using friction-washing to break down worn nappies and other similar products into clean reusable material.
Four million nappies
The council’s refuse staff will collect the nappies and a contractor of NappiCycle will take them to the firm. After the trial, councillors will decide whether to roll it out further.
“A district-wide service would offset approximately 1,000 tonnes of nappies and absorbent hygiene products from the residual waste stream from around 3,500 properties,”
the council said.
“This equates to around four million nappies collected per year.”
The authority said it could reduce the cost of sending black bin waste to an energy-from-waste plant where it gets incinerated, but the service would cost around £280,000 a year.
It may consider recycling puppy pads, effectively animal nappies used during toilet training, after the trial.