Used nappies to be turned into furniture under new recycling scheme

Recycling scheme: Average baby will go through four nappies a day.

Used nappies could be turned into garden furniture or roof tiles under a recycling pilot scheme.

Each year around 160 million nappies are sent to rubbish dumps in Scotland.

Over the next six weeks a disposable nappy recycling scheme will be promoted to around 36,000 homes in Fife, Stirling, Perth and Kinross, and North Lanarkshire.

The pilot aims to establish whether a more widespread service would be practical.

Funded by Zero Waste Scotland, the scheme should make it easier for people to recycle some of the 450,000 nappies which are sent to the dump every day in Scotland.

The nappies can be recycled into park benches, garden furniture, decking, bollards, railway sleepers, fencing, roof tiles and cardboard.

An average baby goes through four nappies a day.

Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said disposable nappies have a huge impact on the environment.

"This innovative new scheme is a fantastic step forward for recycling and makes it easier for parents to do their bit for the environment," he said.

"It's great that new technologies allow us to recycle even more materials. In this way, we can reuse our waste and treat it as a valuable resource with the potential to boost our economy."

Childminder Sheila Sangster said: "Although recycling at home has got a lot easier over recent years, nappies are something that I've always just put in the bin. This new service offers me an easy alternative, meaning that instead of going to landfill, this waste can be put to good use."

Iain Gulland from Zero Waste Scotland said: "Turning nappies and other absorbent hygiene products into products like decking and benches might sound surprising, but putting them to good use is far better than sending them to landfill."

Stirling Council's Danny Gibson said: "If we can recycle nappies, it helps us with our goal of sending minimal waste to be buried in landfill."

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