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[...] buried in each used nappy [diaper -Ed.] are hidden treasures, according to Marcello Somma, who is head of research and development at Fater, an Italian joint venture between Procter & Gamble and Angelini Group.
Fater has developed what it claims is the first industrial-scale process that can extract these valuable materials, and it is already up and running in Treviso, Italy. Now, as part of a project called EMBRACED, it is building a biorefinery next door to make best use of these recycled substances.
Technical minds have been trying to recycle nappies since 1992, says Somma, but it has proved to be a ball of trouble.
"When you change a nappy you wrap it onto itself and so basically you have a kind of bomb of four waste types intimately linked with each other," says Somma. "There is plastic waste – polyethylene and polypropylene, paper waste – because there is cellulose, a super-absorbent polymer and the organic fraction – the human contribution."
Fater, which has been trying to recycle disposable nappies for a decade, has found the trickiest stage is at the start: opening it.
Hmm, the baby's first diapers must be especially valuable, containing the black tar they do.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @08:27PM (2 children)
When I was there several years ago, the kids did not use diapers. They went on the street ( I know, disgusting but hey if dog owners can pick it up ...)
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 08 2018, @10:04PM (1 child)
A friend of mine got a picture of a Chinese kid in Tiananmen Square taking a dump with Mao's giant portrait in the background. Sadly, he tried to get the roll developed in Beijing and the shop scratched out the negative.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @12:12PM
LMAO.