Nappy days! Britain's mountain of disposables recycled into roof tiles in CO2-saving measure, 13 Sept 2011 

Britain uses three billion nappies a year 
Each nappy takes 500 years to decompose

By Ted Thornhill, Mail Online

Last updated at 7:05 PM on 12th September 2011

It’s not likely that many will poo-poo this idea.

Britain uses three billion disposable nappies a year - but now they are set to be turned into roof tiles after a unique recycling plant opened its doors today.

More than a half a million tonnes of waste from disposable nappies is generated in Britain every year going into landfill or incineration.

And despite going green on other issues, families are still buying disposable nappies over traditional old-style washable ones. The average baby uses 6,000 before being potty trained and each one takes around 500 years to decompose.

Nappy days: Waste at the Knowaste recycling plant

But now a Canadian company Knowaste is set to recycle 36,000 tonnes of the waste at the first facility of its kind in the UK.

It is hoped the technology will reduce more than 22,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year - the equivalent of taking nearly 7,500 cars off UK roads.

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The plant, which opened in West Bromwich, West Midlands, is the first of five sites planned over the next four years.
As well as nappies, feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products will also be recycled.

They will be collected from washrooms, hospitals, nursing facilities and child care nurseries.

Knowaste said that state-of-the-art technology will be used to recycle sterilise and separate the products (known in the industry as AHPs) to recover highly valuable plastic and fibre.

Unique: The Knowaste plant is the first of its kind in Britain - but four more will follow

Cool idea: The plant will help tackle global warming by saving 110,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year

These can then be used for making new products, such as roof tiles or plastic components and fibre-based construction and commercial tubes.

Roy Brown, CEO of Knowaste, said: ‘This first site in West Bromwich represents the beginning of a £25million overall investment in the UK, that will produce capacity for handling about a fifth of the AHP waste stream - equating to a saving of 110,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.

‘In the UK, more than one million tonnes of AHP waste is generated annually, much of which is landfilled. 

'A significant proportion of which is produced by the commercial sector and we are proud to be working with some of the Midland's and nation's leading AHP collection companies already. They are embracing this opportunity.

‘We are also developing partnerships with local authorities and their waste contractors to recycle domestic AHP waste in the future.

'Our plant here in the Midlands and those intended for Scotland, the West and London will enable both commercial operators and local authorities to further cut carbon, increase recycling and divert waste from landfill.’

Big operation: The plant will recycle 36,000 tonnes of waste a year