Call for partners: Diaper Recycling

The City of Copenhagen aims to establish a recycling scheme for used diapers and we are currently looking for partners.

Each year, more than 46 million used diapers are disposed of in Copenhagen. This corresponds to approximately 9.400 tonnes of waste. Diaper waste contains valuable materials, such as plastics (PE and PP), superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) and cellulose which could be recycled, as well as urine and faeces which could be used as an input for production of biogas and fertilizer. Furthermore, recycling would avoid the CO2 emitted from the incineration of the non-renewable plastic content (7-13 %).

The City of Copenhagen has set a goal of recycling 70 % of household waste by 2024. To achieve this ambitious goal, we need to start recycling waste fractions which are currently incinerated.

Therefore, the City of Copenhagen is currently planning to launch a separate collection test starting from August 2022. The goal is to gather enough information about diaper recycling during 2022 so that a decision can be made of whether to implement a city-wide collection scheme in 2023-2024.