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Birmingham City Council has granted planning permission to build the UK's first nappy recycling plant in the city.

The 28000 sq ft plant in Tyseley, Birmingham, is the cornerstone of a £20m plus UK investment programme by Knowaste Ltd, a developer of recycling technologies for nappies and personal care products. When up and running, this unique solution will enable recycling of approximately 36,000 tonnes of the city's nappies and other absorbent hygiene products including bedliners, and incontinence products.

The Knowaste recycling process sanitises every nappy and enables 98% of the disposable nappy to be removed from the waste stream. The plastic recyclates from the process can be recreated into a variety of products, including plastic cladding, roof tiles, bicycle helmets and plastic injection and extrusion products. The sludge that is produced from the process is high in cellulose fibre content, which means it has excellent dewatering characteristics.

In the longer term green energy will be generated from the biomass treatment of the sludge. This will create a methane gas and can be sold back to the Grid.

Roy Brown, President and CEO of Knowaste, said:
"Disposable nappies have been described as the 'convenience curse' of the 21st century. Until now, they have been one of the few remaining household items that go straight to landfills, or incinerators. In the UK we produce 750,000 tonnes of nappy waste each year, enough to fill Wembley Stadium hundreds of times over. 

"There is therefore a clear and pressing need for a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution to the UK and global challenge of dealing with nappy and adult incontinence product waste. Our pioneering recycling solution can help reduce the waste that goes to landfill by at least 4%.

"Our longer-term goal is to open plants in other locations in the UK, which will further enable local authorities to meet their increasingly tough landfill diversion targets and avoid landfill taxes and penalties.

"When all our plants are fully up and running 13% of all the UK's nappy waste will be diverted away from landfill and recycled."

Peter Jones, member of the London Waste and Recycling Board and former Biffa Director, said:
"Recycling is a valuable and important contribution to the fight on global warming and this new technology represents a new dawn for the UK and the way we tackle our rubbish.

"Two thirds of households now recycle as a way of life. Extending the line of materials that can be recycled to include nappy waste presents further opportunities for families, especially those with small children and will help boost the nation's recycling rate.

"This technology is also an exemplar for the NHS in terms of hospital and domicilliary incontinence products as it can also make a significant contribution to the Government's Green Procurement objectives.

"Looking to the future, the policy need in the UK to further reduce the waste we send to landfill must be driven by innovative, low carbon solutions for the management of waste materials. Today's decision by Birmingham City Council represents a courageous and positive step."

The Tyseley facility will be based on Knowaste's successful models in other countries, which have recycled over 200,000 tonnes of nappies.

Knowaste is also making significant headway in Europe with plans to open its first processing facility in Slovenia this summer after signing a joint venture agreement with Slovenian waste disposal company Aico Eko d.o.o. The company is also part of a consultation being undertaken by the Portugese government, which is investigating the feasibility of nappy recycling. Plans to create recycling facilities in Germany and Belgium are also at an advanced stage.

In addition, Knowaste will be undertaking a road show across the UK in June, visiting 10 cities to showcase the technology and further raise awareness of the environmental benefits of nappy recycling.

The planning permission follows a recent survey carried out by askamum.co.uk, the website of Mother & Baby magazine, which was commissioned by Knowaste and showed that parents in the UK are keen to see disposable nappy recycling become reality. The study amongst 1,600 plus parents revealed that the vast majority (95%) want disposable nappy recycling as part of their standard household waste collection to avoid them being landfilled. Moreover, 84% would prefer to dispose of nappy waste by recycling as against incineration (8.6%).

The Nappy Days study revealed that 93% of mums and dads feel a degree of uneasiness when throwing nappies out with the rest of their waste. More than nine in ten would segregate nappies for collection and recycling in a similar way to other items, such as glass and tins, and 83% would support a fortnightly collection if they knew nappies would be recycled rather than taken to landfill.