Posted by & filed under News.

enviro-logoDisposable nappies have always ended up in landfill or incineration. But now there’s a new solution to this big environmental problem.

Cannon Hygiene in partnership with its sister company, Envirocomp is offering customers in the South East of England the opportunity to have their nappy waste composted. Waste from other absorbent hygiene products such as feminine hygiene and incontinence will also be composted in a similar manner.

OCS, the parent company of Cannon Hygiene and Envirocomp, opened the first UK composting plant in Rochester Kent in December 2013.

Nappies are shredded, combined with green waste and composted. The plastics are then removed, leaving the compost.

Karen Upston, the New Zealand mother of two who founded the company, said:

“Four years after we began operating in New Zealand, it’s great to see our first nappy composting plant about to start in the UK.

“Being part of the OCS Group has offered the opportunity to bring the Envirocomp solution worldwide and the partnership with Cannon Hygiene means existing customers can benefit immediately from this exciting development. We already have plans for even more in the UK and elsewhere. I am really optimistic that one day most of this type of waste will be recycled and our dream from way back will become a global reality for mums, dads and future generations.”

Compost produced at the Rochester plant will be used initially for land restoration. The plastics separated out as part of the process can be used in waste to energy plants and research is under way to look at recycling options.

The nappies and other waste from washrooms will be collected from commercial premises by Cannon Hygiene. Domestic collections, currently part of the New Zealand service, will be considered at a later stage.

The Rochester plant can compost up to 6.5 million nappies and other products per year. That’s out of 2.7 billion disposable nappies that UK households purchase.