[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6926\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EScientists want to use dirty nappies as a source of raw materials\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvery day, new parents find themselves sucked into the environmentally controversial disposable nappy cycle. Tens of billions of these clusters of plastic, plant matter and human waste are thrown away globally each year, most of them incinerated or sent to landfill where they take centuries to decay.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet buried in each used nappy are hidden treasures, according to Marcello Somma, who is head of research and development at Fater, an Italian joint venture between Procter \u0026amp; Gamble and Angelini Group.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFater has developed what it claims is the first industrial-scale process that can extract these valuable materials, and it is already up and running in Treviso, Italy. Now, as part of a project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/rcn\/210294_en.html\u0022\u003EEMBRACED\u003C\/a\u003E, it is building a biorefinery next door to make best use of these recycled substances.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018When you change a nappy you wrap it onto itself and so basically you have a kind of bomb of four waste types intimately linked with each other.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EMarcello Somma, Head of Research and Development, Fater\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETechnical minds have been trying to recycle nappies since 1992, says Somma, but it has proved to be a ball of trouble.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When you change a nappy you wrap it onto itself and so basically you have a kind of bomb of four waste types intimately linked with each other,\u2019 says Somma. \u2018There is plastic waste \u2013 polyethylene and polypropylene, paper waste \u2013 because there is cellulose, a super-absorbent polymer and the organic fraction \u2013 the human contribution.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFater, which has been trying to recycle disposable nappies for a decade, has found the trickiest stage is at the start: opening it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConventional approaches such as high temperatures and pressures only make it collapse on itself, Somma says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut, ten years and 108 patents later, Fater has found a way to relax the nappy so it opens up and can be sterilised and dried, ultimately yielding its constituent parts. The plant also processes incontinence and sanitary pads and tampons.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHigher quality\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe plastic stream that emerges is of a higher quality than much recycled plastic on the market, created as it was \u2018to be extremely thin, be elastic and be compatible with the most delicate skin,\u2019 said Somma.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother reason for the quality is that collected nappies are generally uncontaminated with other waste \u2013 a problem that plagues the plastics recycling industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is because in parts of Italy nappies are collected separately and \u2018the nappy bin is much purer and more homogeneous in composition than the average waste bin\u2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, while the recycled nappy plastic is currently used to make bottle tops and coat hangers, the group is hoping to develop markets for more demanding applications such as blow moulding, and injection moulding to make objects such as display materials, pallets and, in a further nod to the circular economy, used nappy bins.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@alignleft@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022If just half of the 14 million babies under two in the EU use an average of 5 nappies a day, the line of folded and used nappies would measure over 3,200 km. Image credit - Horizon\u0022 height=\u0022900\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/DirtyNappies.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022If just half of the 14 million babies under two in the EU use an average of 5 nappies a day, the line of folded and used nappies would measure over 3,200 km. Image credit - Horizon\u0022 width=\u00221300\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EIf just half of the 14 million babies under two in the EU use an average of 5 nappies a day, the line of folded and used nappies would measure over 3,200 km. Image credit - Horizon\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is with an eye to making better use of the other waste streams that EMBRACED has begun. The partners on the project \u2013 drawn from all stages of the process \u2013 want the biorefinery to extract nutrients from the faeces and urine in the waste water, for example, which could be used for fertiliser.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the prize will be harnessing the cellulose. Originally designed to snuggle near a baby\u2019s bottom, it is high quality, soft and free from the lignin that is a challenge for other biorefineries trying to make use of cellulose waste streams from sources such as wood pulp.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a bonus, the cellulose emerging from the recycling plant turns out to be more yielding even than virgin cellulose to the fate that awaits it. For example, the recycling process renders it more vulnerable to enzymes that break it down into glucose ready for fermentation into ethanol.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is investigating two schemes: turning the cellulose into a feedstock for the manufacture of biodegradable polymers that could ultimately be used to package some of Fater\u2019s products, and making biostimulants, part of the new generation of more environmentally friendly fertilisers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt will produce the latter through a two-stage process. First the cellulose will be heated to a high temperature without oxygen so that it breaks down into simple gases such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Then, this so-called syngas is fed to bacteria for metabolising into bioplastics for medical devices, with the deactivated bugs destined for biofertiliser.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf things go well, an industrial scale biorefinery will be built in Amsterdam by 2020.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut could Fater ever achieve the crowning goal of the circular economy \u2013 turning the materials into new nappies?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018That\u2019s my dream, we are not yet there yet, though,\u2019 said Somma.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiven these efforts, wouldn\u2019t it be greener to switch to reusables instead? This is the vision of a cooperative called Femmefleur, at least when it comes to menstrual products. The small team, made up of two architects, a graphic designer and a linguist, were frustrated at the environmental toll caused by the 1 million tonnes of pads and tampons discarded in Europe each year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@alignleft@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Frustrated at the 1 million tonnes of pads and tampons that get discarded every year, cooperative Femmefleur created a line of reusable menstrual wear. Image credit - Cocoro\u0022 height=\u0022532\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/cocoro_0.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Frustrated at the 1 million tonnes of pads and tampons that get discarded every year, cooperative Femmefleur created a line of reusable menstrual wear. Image credit - Cocoro\u0022 width=\u00221600\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EFrustrated at the 1 million tonnes of pads and tampons that get discarded every year, cooperative Femmefleur created a line of reusable menstrual wear. Image credit - Cocoro\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team felt the answer lay in making ordinary underwear more absorbent. The result? Menstrual pants. Thanks to a project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/rcn\/206539_en.html\u0022\u003ECOCORO\u003C\/a\u003E, they were able to hone their product into fashionable-looking lingerie that ticks all the boxes: absorbent, breathable and washable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAttract\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe absorbent part consists of layered cotton and polyester materials, treated with an \u2018innovative technology\u2019 that causes the bottom layer to repel moisture and the top layer to attract it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The layer that\u2019s in touch with the body is cotton, which is the tissue that gynaecologists recommend,\u2019 said co-director Clara Guasch.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team also used their funding, which finished in 2017, to conduct a feasibility study and make a business plan. FemmeFleur crowdfunded its marketing stage, raising \u20ac170,000 (eight times its original goal) from women prepared to pay for the product upfront.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We were really taken aback \u2026 we could see that there was a big interest and that was the beginning of the marketing,\u2019 said Guasch.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFemmefleur has faced many challenges, including the burden of introducing the public to what for many is a new product, not just a new brand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I believe that when the product category is better-known it will be easier,\u2019 said Guasch. \u2018We thought we would have to deal with more reluctance but women are interested. First they imagine some horrible thing but then when they see it, it generally has great acceptance.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the EU. 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