Holy poops, we’re bringing nappy recycling to England!

It’s finally happening! We’re delighted to announce that we’re launching our first nappy recycling trial in Bristol!

Starting on 6 July, 48 households and one nursery group in the Bristol area will get free curb side collections of their used nappies for 6 months. The dirty nappies will be sent to the NappiCycle plant in Wales, where they will be cleaned, with plastics and cellulose fibres separated for re-use.

Then they’ll be turned into all sorts of cool stuff, like materials for super durable roads.

Did you know?

Every day, 8 million disposable nappies are thrown into landfill in the UK, each one taking hundreds of years to degrade – long outliving the babies they are used on.

But what you might not realise is that the technology for nappy recycling already exists! Many parents in Wales already enjoy a free, local authority provided nappy collection and recycling service, with the nappy waste processed by NappiCycle which recycles 40 million used nappies in Wales each year.

100% of the soiled nappies are processed, so absolutely nothing is sent to landfill, due to a pioneering, cost effective technique developed by Rob Poyer, NappiCycle’s founder.

Why recycling?

Thanks to NappiCycle, what has traditionally been viewed as a waste product has now become a resource.

Matt Moreland, Pura’s sustainability director explains: “Nappy recycling is an immediate solution to the problem of nappy waste. It will prevent millions of tonnes of valuable resource from nappies and hygiene products from ending up in landfill or being incinerated, now.

"There is a lot of innovation happening in the baby care sector to reduce the impact of caring for families, but this could take years to evolve. Through our Pura NappiCycle partnership, we’re so proud to be offering an instant answer.”

Guy Fennell, Pura founder adds: “We’ve calculated that if the 3bn nappies used each year in the UK were 100% recycled, it would be the same as removing 72,000 cars from our roads annually.

"We know that nappy collection and recycling works, but it requires investment and legislation change to roll out the service outside of Wales. We need to act now and to try to convince the Government to make a change as soon as possible.” 

Partnering with Asda

The Bristol trial will be funded by Pura and supported in an awareness drive by popular supermarket brand Asda. Asda Customer Planning Manager, Hannah Essam, told Pura: “At Asda we don’t send anything to landfill, and we are always looking to work with like-minded organisations who can help customers do their bit for the environment.

“We are delighted to be able to support Pura and we hope this will be a successful trial which will lead to Asda shoppers living more sustainably.”

What happens next?

This is phase 1 of the trial. It will allow is to start conversations with DEFRA and local authorities throughout the UK about the feasibility and benefits of nappy cycling.

Costs and carbon impact will be among the outcomes monitored. The trial brings us one step closer to our ultimate goal – to give all UK parents access to nappy recycling. Stay tuned to the blog for updates.