Diaper Recycling in the European Union

Arnem, The Netherlands, is home to the world’s largest and most sophisticated recycling facility for absorbent hygiene products, including disposable baby diapers and adult incontinence products.  Built and operated by Knowaste, this multi-jurisdictional plant draws recyclable materials from across Western Europe, primarily servicing nursing homes and elder care facilities.

In operation since 1999, this state-of-the-art facility:

• Processes up to 100,000 tons of diaper material per year.
• Successfully converts disposable diapers and adult incontinence products into marketable materials.
• Produces 20,000 tons of recycled fiber and 12,000 tons of usable recycled plastic per year.
• Recycles diaper and incontinence waste from more than 1,200 healthcare institutions, 750 day care facilities and more than 100 municipalities in The Netherlands.

When compared to producing paper and plastic products from virgin materials, the Knowaste recycling facility can generate unparalleled savings in energy and natural resources while simultaneously reducing demand for landfill or incinerator capacity.

At full capacity, the Knowaste large-scale facility has the ability to:

• Save 150 million gallons of fresh water that would be used in the normal production of cellulose fiber.
• Save more than one million cubic meters of natural gas; enough energy to power a city with a population of 10,000 for one year.
• Save more than 230,000 trees from being harvested each year to obtain the equivalent fiber than can be recovered from this facility.

Knowaste’s patented technology transforms one of the biggest waste disposal problems of our time into an opportunity for private and public waste disposal operations to safely and profitably protect the environment.