Mid Devon launches nappy recycling pilot

Trails begin in April

A trial to recycle nappies in Mid Devon will ahead in April.

The three-month pilot will cover between 150 and 200 properties, and will see children’s nappies and other absorbent hygiene products collected.

The council’s cabinet was told this week that a Welsh firm called NappiCycle had pioneered a process using friction-washing, allowing it to recover material from worn nappies and other similar products to break them down into clean, reusable ones.

In Wales, recycled nappies are used in asphalt for road surfacing and other secondary uses.

No local authorities in England offer this form of recycling yet, although some trials are taking place.

Mid Devon Council said it is in discussions with NappiCycle to start a trial in April similar to one conducted by East Devon District Council last September.

Mid Devon’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 says it could reduce the amount it spends on sending black bin waste to an energy-from-waste plant where it gets incinerated, but the annual cost of providing the service would be around £280,000.

One councillor asked whether puppy pads, effectively animal nappies used during toilet training, could also be recycled, and was told this may be able to be considered after the trial.