England’s first nappy recycling service launched

Cheshire West and Chester Council has this week become England’s first local authority to offer a nappy recycling scheme.

Following in the steps of Scotland, Cheshire West and Chester Council is offering the free ‘Nappy-cycle’ service on a six-month trial basis.

More than 1,300 households in the pilot area of Vale Royal have signed up to the free weekly service that provides households with collection sacks and an outdoor storage container for used nappies.

Collected nappies are then transported to the UK’s first nappy recycling facility, Knowaste in West Bromwich, which opened last year.

“We are delighted that so many families have chosen to take advantage of our pioneering Nappy-cycle pilot”, Local Councillor Lynda Jones said.

“For the first time, it offers parents and carers an environmentally-friendly disposal option that is also convenient and hygienic.”

Knowaste’s CEO, Roy Brown, said: “Knowaste uses state-of-the-art technology to allow us to turn all absorbent hygiene product into valuable plastics and fibres, which can then be used to make new products.”

West Cheshire sends 5,000 tonnes of nappies to landfill each year, where they take up to 500 years to decompose.

When the scheme was first announced in March, Councillor Lynn Riley, Executive Member for Community and Environment said: “Now – for the first time – Cheshire West and Chester Council is to tackle this so-called ‘nappy mountain’ by taking advantage of cutting-edge recycling technology. The new trial service will allow us to recycle over 25 tonnes of nappies every week.”

The scheme will be provided in partnership with May Gurney, which also provides recycling and waste collection services in the borough.

The council has applied to the Government’s Weekly Collection Support Fund for support to expand the service across West Cheshire.