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posted by martyb on Monday October 08 2018, @07:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the coming-clean dept.

Phys.org:

[...] 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.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @08:27PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @08:27PM (#746117)

    So, the valuable parts seem to be:

    High quality plastics for use in other plastic products
    Waste matter for fertilizer
    Cellulose for things like ethanol, polymers and fertilizers

  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday October 08 2018, @09:15PM

    by Snotnose (1623) on Monday October 08 2018, @09:15PM (#746134)

    Cellulose for things like ethanol,

    Now we know why ethanol-fueled says so many shitty things.

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