The facility is expected to take waste collected from local hospitals by Birmingham-based collection firm Alpha Wastecare (Midlands) and recycle it into a variety of products including plastic cladding, roof tiles, bicycle helmets and plastic injection and extrusion products.
Knowaste is expecting the £12 million facility to be operational by the end of 2009 or early in 2010. It claims its process will remove 98% of the material in disposable nappies from the waste stream.
A spokesman for Knowaste said that whilst the majority of investors in the project were venture capitalists, some of the money was coming from commercial banks. It has appointed a contractor to build the facility and the spokesman said it will be “working on a plan over the coming weeks” but could not confirm when exactly construction would begin.
Knowaste chief executive, Roy Brown, said: “Disposable nappies have been described as the ‘convenience curse' of the 21st century. Until now, they have been one of the few remaining household items that go straight to landfills, or incinerators. In the UK we produce 750,000 tonnes of nappy waste each year, enough to fill Wembley Stadium hundreds of times over.
“There is therefore a clear and pressing need for a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution to the UK and global challenge of dealing with nappy and adult incontinence product waste. Our pioneering recycling solution can help reduce the waste that goes to landfill by at least 4%.”
Tonnages
Simon Bradley, business manager at Alpha Wastecare (Midlands), acknowledged that tonnages for the plant had not yet been secured by his firm. However, he said that the company was in “positive” talks with a number of hygiene contractors for the Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
He explained that Alpha Wastecare (Midland) would supply separate 70 litre bins, free of charge, to hospitals so that nappies could be source-separated.
He added: “Now it has planning permission we expect to get things signed soon. One contractor has already indicated its commitment to signing with us.”
Alpha Wastecare (Midlands) is also in on-going talks with a number of local authorities in the area about developing a kerbside nappy collection for households.
Facilities
The Tyseley facility is the first of a number of nappy recycling facilities that Knowaste is hoping to build in the UK. It is investing £20 million in the UK and said Tyseley is the “cornerstone” of its plans.
In Jannuary, Mr Brown revealed that the company was in talks with the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWaRB) to build a nappy recycling plant in London and had been scouting areas in the north east for another suitable site (see letsrecycle.com story).
Overall, Knowaste intends to build five more facilities by 2012. But, Mr Brown, stressed: “While we are looking at other sites, the focus is getting the Birmingham facility up-and-running.”
Mr Brown added: “Our longer-term goal is to open plants in other locations in the UK, which will further enable local authorities to meet their increasingly tough landfill diversion targets and avoid landfill taxes and penalties.
“When all our plants are fully up and running 13% of all the UK's nappy waste will be diverted away from landfill and recycled.”
UK waste adviser Peter Jones, who sits on the LWaRB, commented: “Extending the line of materials that can be recycled to include nappy waste presents further opportunities for families, especially those with small children and will help boost the nation's recycling rate.
“This technology is also an exemplar for the NHS in terms of hospital and domicilliary incontinence products as it can also make a significant contribution to the Government's Green Procurement objectives.
“Looking to the future, the policy need in the UK to further reduce the waste we send to landfill must be driven by innovative, low carbon solutions for the management of waste materials. Today's decision by Birmingham City Council represents a courageous and positive step.”
In January, Mr Brown said he hoped the Tyseley facility would be a catalyst for people to see nappy recycling is possible and pave the way for more facilities in the UK.
Knowaste is also planning to build facilities on the Continent in Portugal and Slovenia.
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