Green & Clean

Choosing a diapering method is a huge issue for new mom’s.  Disposable diapers clog landfills for hundreds of years.  There are alternatives to disposables, of course, but they have their drawbacks.  Cloth diapers require extra water and electricity for laundering and the couple of biodegradable options don’t quite perform as well and are hard to find at local supermarkets.  This leads to an overwhelming majority of parents choosing disposables and approximately 27.4 billion diapers making their way to American landfills every year.

Enter one of the more exciting stories I’ve come across in a while.  Companies Versus Energy and Knowaste are partnering up to build a diaper recycling plant in the UK.  Not only will the diapers collected stay out of landfills, but the plant will actually run on the organic matter contained in them.

The diapers will be shredded, washed, sanitized, and separated into organic material and reusable paper pulp and plastic that may find new life as roof tiles, shoe insoles, wallpaper, industrial thickeners, or many other potential uses.  The water used in the process will be treated and reused.

The plant will open in May 2010 in Birmingham and is the first of five planned for the UK.  The diapers will be collected from nurseries, nursing homes, and hospitals.  My fingers are crossed that the U.S. will follow soon.