Diapers. Dirty diapers. Can you really think of anything more disgusting? Aside from the fact that they're filled with near-toxic waste from a baby, 8 oz diapers made from plastic account for over 23,000 TONS of waste per DAY (not per child, though some parents might argue their tot is capable of it). That's waste that isn't easily broken down, either. These millions of diapers are clogging our landfills, floating in our oceans, and dirtying up our planet.
What options to we have to rid ourselves of dirty diapers? Aside from cloth diapering, an increasingly popular trend in eco-friendly parenting, one potential use for these foul-smelling things is to turn them into energy via a special recycling plant.
Two UK organizations, Versus Energy and Knowaste, think they may have found the answer for our filthy problem and is building the first ever recycling plant to get 100% of its power from dirty diapers. Now, only 2% of the overall material in a disposed diaper has organic matter in it, which will fuel the plant, so the remaining 98% will be sorted, chopped up and redistributed into other products.
From CleanTechnica:
- Organic waste accounts for only 2% of the materials in "pre-owned" disposable diapers. What happens to the other 98%? It will be dried, sterilized, and separated into reusable paper pulp and plastic. The end use of those materials has not yet been announced but based on Knowaste's past experience, roof tiles, shoe insoles, wallpaper, plastic "wood," and industrial thickeners are likely candidates.
This idea that your next "made from recycled materials" cup or plate could have been made with the remnants of a dirty diaper is kind of gross, but mostly awesome. What a brilliant idea!
via TreeHugger
