DOORSTEP collections of disposable nappies for recycling will begin in
Toronto this month. If the pioneering experiment is successful, the city could
soon be recycling 100 million nappies a year, cutting its annual landfill costs
by an estimated C$300 000 (拢150 000).
The metropolitan authority already collects 100 000 nappies each month from
its 200 childcare centres and 12 drive-through recycling depots. A local
company, Knowaste Technologies, recycles the woodpulp, plastic and
water-absorbent gel from the nappies.
The company pulps the nappies, then screens out the plastic parts from the
slurry and the slurry is washed. Chemicals separate the absorbent gel from the
pulp and the pulp washed again and pressed to remove most of the water.
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About 90 per cent of the recycled material is woodpulp. Pulp from nappies is
especially sought after by the paper industry because of its long fibres.
It can
fetch anywhere between C$400 and C$800 per tonne, depending
on the
state of the market at the time.
The separated plastic is sold for use in absorbent pads to clean up oil
spills. According to King, the recycled gel absorbs less water than it did
originally, but it could make a useful soil improver. Agricultural trials are
now under way.
鈥淧eople like to recycle used diapers as it alleviates their sense of guilt,鈥�
says Carolyn McSkimming Pereira, assistant manager of waste reduction at the
Toronto Metropolitan Council. 鈥淢ost people with young children say that diapers
add up to half their total volume of garbage and they would love to put
all this
material to good use.鈥�
Initially the council will make weekly collections of nappies from 1100
homes, which should yield around 30 000 nappies a month with a wet weight of 10
tonnes. The cost of collection is about C$55 per tonne, C$10 less
than typical landfill costs.
Last year Toronto was forced to stop collecting grass clippings following
complaints of bad smells from residents near its Avondale composting
centre. But
McSkimming Pereira does not anticipate similar difficulties with the nappies.
鈥淪urprisingly, we get far less odours from the diaper programme than from the
grass,鈥� she says.
But the Women鈥檚 Environmental Network, an environmental pressure group,
criticised the scheme. It says people should be encouraged to use washable
nappies. 鈥淭he priority with waste must be to prevent before recycling,鈥�
says Ann
Link, the network鈥檚 science coordinator.
