Partnership to recycle absorbent hygiene waste

Initial Hygiene is backing a new absorbent hygiene waste (AHW) recycling technology from nappy and pad recycling expert Relivit, in a partnership which is said to unlock a hidden goldmine in landfill worth approximately $120 million.

Relivit Managing Director Mark Dunn said the company’s AHW recycling technology is an Australian first and can divert 95% of the 450,000 tonnes of nappies, sanitary pads and incontinence pads that Australia produces away from landfill, more than halving the carbon footprint of AHW.

The process is as follows:

1. AHW is collected from the waste generation source and transported to the Relivit facility.
2. It gets shredded prior to entering the autoclave.
3. In the autoclave the AHW is sterilised and the super absorbent polymer is deactivated, allowing the organics to be removed.
4. The plastics, wood fibre and SAP are separated.
5. The materials are sent off to manufacturers to be made into new materials.

“By recycling nappies, sanitary pads and incontinence pad waste, which currently costs Australian businesses and councils approximately $60 million to bury in landfill each year, businesses and councils are able to reduce both the environmental and financial impact of this AHW significantly,” said Dunn.

The recycled plastics and wood fibres from AHW can be used to make a range of diverse products, including fence posts; park benches, tables and chairs; flooring; wheel stops and speed humps; moulded cardboard products and fine paper; pet bedding and pet litter.

Alain Moffroid, Pacific managing director for Initial Hygiene’s parent company Rentokil Initial, said the company was “looking for new technology to address the growing problem of how to sustainably dispose of AHW”. He said the Relivit partnership “is a practical investment in the future of waste management in Australia” and believes it is the way forward for all businesses and governments that have the opportunity to recycle AHW.

Dunn said Initial Hygiene “provided a window of opportunity for our business to introduce this breakthrough AHW recycling technology in Australia”. The program will begin in NSW in 2014 and as Relivit’s process capabilities expand to other states, so too will the program, said Moffroid.

Relivit will service businesses including hospitals, childcare centres and aged care facilities, as well as local councils, providing them with an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective AHW recycling solution.