A group of researchers in Hsinchu County has developed a new technique to turn used diapers into recyclable materials, which can be utilized to make other products, such as cardboard and plastic bags.
More than 2 million diapers are used every day nationwide, making up between 3 percent and 5 percent of the total amount of garbage, Hsinchu County Environmental Protection Bureau Director-General Huang Shih-han (黃士漢) said.
Used diapers are either buried in landfills or burned at incinerators, but both methods have a significant environmental impact, he said.
Buried diapers decompose only after 400 years, while the burning of diapers can produce toxic substances, as their waterproof layers are made of plastic materials, he added.
To solve the problem of diaper disposal, the bureau invited academics and people working in the “green” industry to team up to “turn used diapers into gold,” Huang said.
Through a special decomposition process, reusable materials in diapers, such as fluff pulp, sodium polyacrylate and polyethylene, can be retrieved, said Ching Pei Hua Recycling Technology Co founder Wu Pei-jen (吳倍任), who developed the technique.
The materials can be reused to make products such as industrial cardboard, exsiccates and garbage bags, he said.
If used diapers can be recycled, about 75,000 tonnes of pulp can be reused each year, meaning nearly 864,000 trees would be saved, said Chung Hua University department of industrial design professor Huang Ssu-chun (黃思蓴), who helped design one product with his students.
Their design won an environmental product contest held by the Environmental Protection Administration last year.
If used diapers become a new item in the local recycling system, the nation would be able to reduce its carbon emissions and would not need to build more incinerators, Huang Shih-han said.
As Hsinchu does not have its own incinerator, the county government has been working to reduce the amount of garbage, he said, adding that the bureau has assembled local industries to form a “green” industrial alliance and plans to build its own garbage disposal facilities.
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