In 2012 Cheshire West and Chester Council become the first local authority in England to offer residents a dedicated weekly nappy recycling service.
Since its launch the trailblazing ‘Nappycycle’ service has been turning heads, with Cheshire West and Chester Council now becoming a national hub for this pioneering field of Waste Management.
Councillor Lynn Riley, Executive Member for Community and Environment, added: “. Disposable nappies are an essential part of life for those with young children but disposing of them comes at significant cost and has a huge environmental impact. In our borough alone, almost 5,000 tonnes of nappies go to landfill every year.
It is enormously exciting that the people of West Cheshire are seen as global trailblazers for this service, which reflects this authority’s commitment to improving recycling rates and reducing the amount we send to landfill.”
Over the last 12 months local authorities from across the Country have been flocking to share the invaluable lessons offered by this pilot. This reached new heights recently when the Council's cutting edge skills became ‘Wanted Down Under’.
‘Relivit’ an Australian Waste Management provider has been closely following developments in West Cheshire, they were so excited by what they heard they just had to take the opportunity to come and see ‘Nappycycle’ service in action.
Gareth Williamson, Managing Director of Relivit said “Cheshire West and Chester Council are leading the way in delivering innovative methods to maximise the recovery of valuable resources from household waste.
During my visit I was able to see the practical issues, tools used, benefits and opportunities in how to efficiently collect nappies and pads from households for recycling, as well as kerbside sorting of recyclables, collections of food waste and a strong partnership between Council and the contractor, May Gurney.
We at Relivit are very grateful for Council’s willingness to share insights and experience, which will help us roll-out collections and recycling of absorbent hygiene waste in Australia in the near future.”
Disposable nappies are used by over 90% of UK families with babies using up to 4,000 nappies before toilet training. The amount of waste for incontinence is also increasing. There are many degrees of incontinence and the condition can affect all age groups, although predominantly the elderly. By 2035, 23% of the population will be aged 65 and over.
Nappycycle is providing the residents of West Cheshire with an alternative to land-filling this type of waste. Compared to landfill and incineration, the nappy recycling process emits up to 71% fewer carbon emissions and 626 kgs of CO2 are saved for every 1 tonne of AHP waste processed and recycled.
Nappycycle has successfully complimented the Council’s new ‘Recycle First’ collection service; positively contributing towards enhancing recycling performance, by as much as 322kg per household each year.
After being unsuccessful in its application for funding from ‘Weekly Collection Fund’ Cheshire West and Chester Council have extended the Nappy-cycle pilot whist they investigate other funding possibilities.
Photo – Left to right
Alison Butler, Cheshire West and Chester
Gareth Williamson, Managing Director of Relivit
Claire Darbyshire, Cheshire West and Chester
Andy Patterson, May Gurney
