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Not a member? JoinTerraCycle To Launch Upcycling Program for Disposable Diapers
Diapers being sorted for sterilizing and processing at a recently opened Knowaste facility in the UK
TerraCycle, the New Jersey-based company that specializes in upcycling waste packaging into durable consumer products, will soon launch a program for disposable diapers, according to Waste & Recycling News.
Ernie Simpson, global vice president of research and development for Terracycle, says the company is 90 percent finished with the development of a continuous process for collecting, sterilizing and processing used diapers. Certain parts of the diaper will be compostable, and the remaining materials will be upcycled into plastic lumber, pallets and outdoor furniture.
Simpson expects the research and development to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 with a pilot program launching in September. The collection system will operate similar to other TerraCycle programs in which companies and individuals in “TerraCycle Brigades” are provided with containers to collect and ship the waste products.
For the pilot, Terracycle will reach out to a small network of childcare facilities currently participating in brigades for Huggies brand plastic packaging. Terracycle says it hopes to expand its partnership with Huggies to include the new diaper program.
"[Recycling] used diapers was a pretty tall order. It’s solving the most complex waste stream known right now in the U.S. There is no more complicated waste stream than that," Simpson told Waste & Recycling News. "The collection and subsequent disposal [of diapers] in large cities is a tremendous burden. If they can be recycled into useable products, that is a bonus for just about any large city."
TerraCycle isn’t the only company working on a solution for disposable diapers. In September, Knowaste announced plans to build five recycling facilities in the UK.
TerraCycle´s research and development team also expects to complete within the next year processes for recycling feminine hygiene products, discarded chewing gum and cigarette butts.
Some of TerraCycle’s ongoing programs center around partnerships with 3M, Mars and Kraft. Terracyle’s visionary founder and CEO gave an interview on green entrepreneurship in 2009.
Bart King is a PR consultant and principal of Cleantech Communications.
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This Month's SB Issue in Focus - Information Technology as a Platform for Sustainable Innovation
Guest Editors: Bart King and Marc Alt
In the first decade of the 21st Century, Information Technology laid a new foundation for business as usual, changing the way we communicate with stakeholders and the way we collect data. Now, the analysis of our "big data" is beginning to yield opportunities for improving the efficiency of operations and gaining insights to consumer behavior. Increased monitoring and optimization of flow networks for electricity, water and transportation have the potential to create massive resource savings, while software and virtual collaboration tools are bringing ever greater human resources to bear on the challenges of sustainability.
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During the month of May, we will be publishing a “SB Issues in Focus” Editorial package on the topic of “Information Technology as a Platform for Sustainable Innovation.” This is a great opportunity to share your company's insights, showcase innovations and present solutions. Find out more!
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