Strange story in the world: Using more than 100,000 diapers to pave the highway

Using used diapers to pave the road, does the road smell? - No, Wales (United Kingdom) is using more than 100,000 diapers to pave the road, becoming the first place in the world to do this.

Use diapers to carpet the pavement

A motorway is under construction in west Wales and this is a pilot project on environmental protection related to used diapers.

More than 100,000 used diapers are cleaned, chopped into fibrous gray pellets and mixed with asphalt. Construction workers then used them to carpet a 2.4km stretch of road this week.

British MP Ben Lake said the "diaper path" could be a game changer for the approach to infrastructure in Wales'. While people are still encouraged to switch to cloth diapers (reusable), disposable diapers are now effectively recycled, helping to reduce the pressure on landfills, helping the environment.

The stretch of road is paved with more than 100,000 recycled diapers.

Around 140 million diapers are thrown in the trash every year in Wales. In the United Kingdom, this figure is estimated at 3 billion, representing 2-3% of total household waste. In the US, more than 18 billion diapers are discarded each year.

Most used diapers end up in landfills, but they take years to biodegrade. Cloth diapers also have an environmental cost because manufacturing and washing them consumes energy and water.

A report by the UK's Environment Agency in 2008 found that the environmental impact of cloth diapers could be higher or lower than those of diapers, depending on how the diapers are washed.

Jason Hallett, professor of sustainable chemical technology at Imperial College London, said paving the road with diapers will not make the road 'greener', as both the asphalt and the diaper ingredients are both. are made from hydrocarbons, but are less harmful to the environment than leaving them in landfills.

Several countries have experimented with making roads from plastic waste. India made glue from plastic waste and used it to glue a city road in 2002. Since 2015, the Indian government has mandated the construction of roads in densely populated urban areas. use plastic waste.

The Netherlands has opened the world's first bicycle path made with recycled plastic.

The US state of California has used discarded plastic bottles and other packaging to renovate a three-lane highway. And now Wales is making the world's first 'diaper road'.

NappiCycle, a Welsh company that provided recycled diapers for the pilot project, is one of only two diaper recyclers in the world (the other is in Italy). NappiCycle director Rob Poyer said diapers are difficult to break down into plastic, cellulose and super absorbent polymers.

Little gray pellets made from shredded diapers were added to the asphalt.

Waste recycling initiatives

Local governments in Wales are increasing the proportion of waste being recycled and have a flexible approach to achieving their goals. In Swansea, the second largest city in Wales, officials use what's called a 'crack test' - they shake trash bags to see if there are any clanking noises to identify objects recyclable. If the trash bag contains recyclable items, the landlord will be fined 100 pounds (about 3.1 million VND).

Other Welsh cities have reduced the frequency of garbage collection trucks, while maintaining a weekly food waste collection. Since 2018, Conwy town food waste collection is up 31% and dry material recycling is up 16%. Conwy recycles more than 70% of household waste.

In the US, more than 18 billion used diapers are thrown away each year.

Food waste usually makes up about a quarter of household waste. But most Welsh residents put food waste in separate containers that are collected weekly and sent to an anaerobic digester, where the waste is turned into renewable energy or used as fertilizer.

NappiCycle director Rob Poyer (left), and British MP Ben Lake observe road work.

Now, the Welsh government's attention has turned to diapers and other absorbent hygiene products - which make up around 9% of waste. If the authorities determine that the asphalt is not affected by the addition of recycled diapers and meets environmental standards, then recycled diapers are likely to be used more widely. The mountains of Wales have about 55,000 km of roads.