Kimberly-Clark launches Australian-first nappy recycling trial

Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Huggies nappies, today announces a new nappy recycling trial that could be Australia’s answer to the 1.5 billion disposable nappies that end up in landfill each year.

The first trial of its kind in Australia, The Nappy Loop has been underway in South Australia since July 2022 and uses anaerobic digestion to turn the organic materials in used Huggies nappies into nutrient-rich compost, as well as bioenergy that is captured and used to power the recycling process.

The Nappy Loop team is being led by Kimberly-Clark Australia, along with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, one of South Australia’s largest composters, Peats Soils and Garden Supplies, Solo Resource Recovery, and early learning and care provider G8 Education.

Together, the team has collected and recycled almost two tonnes of used Huggies nappies, proving that anaerobic digestion is a viable option for the recycling process.

Kimberly-Clark ANZ Managing Director, Belinda Driscoll said: “We believe we have a responsibility to lead by example and find better solutions for the community and our planet.”

“Families and day care centres across the country rely on the convenience and performance of disposable nappies and while we work to innovate and create more sustainable products, recycling is one solution for disposable nappy waste,” Driscoll said.

“Identifying a recycling solution that works hasn’t been easy due to the availability of technology and collection systems. Today is a very proud day for us, announcing that we have trialled right here in Australia, and it represents a big step in Kimberly-Clark ANZ’s sustainability strategy.”

The Nappy Loop trial has adopted a B2B model, with Solo collecting used Huggies nappies from G8 Education’s Welly Road Early Learning Centre in Mount Barker and delivering them to the Peats composting facility for processing.

Using anaerobic digestion, the organic material in the used nappies is transformed into nutrient-rich compost while the plastic components are separated and evaluated for future recycled products. In addition, the anaerobic digestion process creates bioenergy which is captured and used to power the Peats composting facility.

CSIRO’s Principal Research Scientist Dr Anu Kumar said: “CSIRO is working with Kimberly-Clark Australia to provide scientific validation of The Nappy Loop pilot to help tackle waste. Our research for this Australian trial will help inform the team on the potential scaling of the program to help reduce the amount of nappies ending up in landfill.”

Anaerobic digestion is a growing area of focus and possibility in Australia. The process has been used successfully in Toronto, Canada to recycle disposable nappies.

After five months of recycling used nappies, The Nappy Loop team is now exploring the opportunity to scale the program in South Australia and nationally. This includes partnering with APR Plastics to test the recycling of the recovered plastic from the nappies using pyrolysis, with the aim of having results available in early 2023.

For more information, visit: www.global.kimberly-clark.com/