Sustainable Post-Consumer

Diaper Recycler
Designer: Bei-Ren Wu, Miley Tsai, Sz-Chwun John Hwang
Challenge
 The 0.46 million disabled elderly and one
million of babies between the age of 0-4.
The 12 million diapers collected per day

Market >> US $ 75 billion in

2020 in the world.

Used diapers are about

3% by the weight of all
the domestic wastes.

The Problems from Post-Consumer Diapers

- Incineration  produces toxics & waste energy to vaporize water
- Landfill  can’t decompose (last 400 yrs) & occupy huge space

Impact on the Earth

- Deforestation (72000 trees chopped off per month)
- Waste energy and H2O resource (20 ton H2O/ton-pulp made)
Struggle
 Non-woven Sticky on Machine
fabric (1) Increase friction, produce heat and
catch fire
(2) Axis is corroded after long-term operation

Fluff Fiber and

Polyacrylate
PE plastics

The Current Situation in Taiwan

- No diaper-related recycling regulation involved 
not in the list of required recycling items
- Jell-like post-consumer diapers 
sticks on the axis of machine and causes heat and corrosion
- The low price of recovered materials can not overcome the
cost of recycling processes.
In 1990 (US)/ 2011 (UK)

Stinky Smell Shredder

Sterilization

The Current Technology in the world for Post-

Consumer Diapers
- Knowaste - Total Care System
- Super Faiths - Diaper Recycling Technology
Clostridium not easily killed by sterilization,
Impact on the Earth shouldn’t do it at the very beginning.
- Waste energy in sterilization - Foul odors in stored area
Total Care System, Japan Solvation Process
Ambient Air
Fan
Separation
Tank
Dumping
Site
Dewatering Plastic Recycled Products
Dewatering
Rotary Drum Screen Rotary Drum Screen
Chemical
Blending Soil Conditioner
Tank clean

Separation
dewatering Press Dryer Recycled paper
Rotary Drum Screen
Tank
RDF

clean
Recycled Dewatering Low quality pulp Building Materials
water
Recycled Pulp expected
Sewage
Wastewater Treatment Dewatering
to have 80% recycle
Sludge

The Current Technology in the world for Post-

Consumer Diapers
- Knowaste - Total Care System
- Super Faiths - Diaper Recycling Technology
Impact on the Earth
- Waste water resource - Downgrading of recycled diapers
 Feeding Super Faiths, Japan
Shredding

Fermentation RDF

Drying

Sterilization

The Current Technology in the world for Post-

Consumer Diapers
- Knowaste - Total Care System
- Super Faiths - Diaper Recycling Technology
Impact on the Earth
- Waste energy in drying - Odors from fermentation
 Diaper Recycling Technology
in Singapore

Shredder

“Coming Soon”
noted on website

Separator
【http://www.diaperrecycling.technology】

The Current Technology in the world for Post-

Consumer Diapers
- Knowaste - Total Care System
- Super Faiths - Diaper Recycling Technology
No Impact on the Earth
- Only for NG products, not for post-consumer diapers
 Down-grade Recycle
Launch
Region Company Products
Date
Tile, Cardboard, Plastic Bucket,
US & UK Knowaste 1990 & 2011
Absorbent Pads for pet
Japan Total Care System 2001 Insulation Liner, RDF, Soil Conditioner
Japan Super Faiths RDF
Raw Materials for Pulp, Plastic
Diaper Recycling
Singapore 2016 powder, Absorbent material and
Technology
Fertilizer.

The Current Technology in the world for Post-

Consumer Diapers
- Knowaste - Total Care System
- Super Faiths - Diaper Recycling Technology
Impact on the Earth
- Waste energy in heating - Odors and health concerned
 Site G
Site H
Step 1: Individual Treatment at each
site for cleaning, disinfection,
odor reduction, & weight loss
Site A Site F
Center

Step 2: Separation at the Central

Recycling Center Site B
Site C
Site E

Site D

Our Solutions
- Centralized System -
 Dewatering and Disinfection Recycling Processes
Site A

Site B

Site C

On-site laundry machine set-up in Central Recycling Plant

Long-Term Care Facilities

Five Features
- Environmental Friendly Soaking Agents for Stratification
- Completely Recycled Water using Green Fairy
- No Foul Odors in the Ambient Air
- Low-Energy Consumption due to Pretreatment
- Highly Refined Recycled Materials
Add Nature Ingredients

PE
Fluff
Fiber

Polyacrylate

Stratification after adding Soaking Agents

- According to the Specific Density
- Soaking agents are eco-friendly
- Water containing soaking agents is totally recycled
- Water containing soaking agents is biodegradable
Sewage Treatment

Recycling Wastewater
- Using Green Fairy (wins 2015 James Dyson Award in
second place)
- Containing PVA-immobilized Cell Beads entrapped with
Nannochloropsis oculata
- Very Efficient in Uptake of Nitrogen and Phosphorus
Step 1: On-site Laundry 配藥槽
Soaking agents Tape
一般水water

E-1

Unfolding by
強洗破碎
strong stirring 浸置柔洗
To Sewage
廢液
使用水回收
E-5
V-1

Recycling solution
E-4

Dewatering
脫水

Weight loss
as much as
E

10-12 folds Discharge

出料裝載 for
shipment offside

Treatment Process
- (1) disinfection, (2) dewatering, (3) shipments
- For a 100 cap. unit, requires water of 2 ton per day
- Skatole can be reduced to two third after spraying
NanoPlus nano deionized water after 8 hrs
- Diaper weight can reduce tenfold to twelve folds
Step 2: Recycling Center
E-1

Washing
尿布清洗
脫臭設備
Odor reduction

Conveying
& Disinfection
儲存
V-1
E-5
Shredding
破碎
Feeding
進料 E-4

PE分離
Separation
E
PE PE粒
powder
纖維連續清洗
Fiber washing
and過濾
filtration

絨毛纖維紙漿
Using renewable energy Fluff Fiber
使用水經處理後
Wastewater
for plant operation 100%循環使用
treatment to have screening
沉澱物
100% recycle
聚丙烯酸鹽
E-8
Polyacrylate

Treatment Process
- (1)Feeding & Storage - (2)Conveying
- (3)Shredding - (4)Separation
- (5)Disinfection - (6)Recycling
- Water totally recycled and used
- Using renewable energy
 PE Separation Fiber Sedimentation Fiber Separation

Polyacrylate settling Fiber coming out

Handsheet

First Trial By Using Hand

17
 1. Cut diaper into pieces, and then drop
into water in the tank for 3 min stirring.

2. Sit for 10 min for settling (PE on the

water surface, fiber floating in the
middle of tank, and polyacrylate settling
on the bottom.

3. Start the circulation of soaking solution.

Control the vortex to steady state,
remove the PE scrapes using strainer at
a fixed place.

4. Open the side valve to allow the fiber

rather than the heavy polyacrylate to go
through.
Assumed diapers
have been shredded 5. When the fiber is gone, the polyacrylate
salt is collected at the bottom of the tank.

Second Trial Using Separation

Machine
1. The prototype can handle 80-100 pieces post-consumer diaper per hour
2. Water consumed: 1.5 ton/d (NT$20/d), Electricity: 17 kW-hr (NT$300/d)
 The 成人照護尿布組成比例
composition of adult diaper
聚丙烯酸鈉
14% Polyacrylate
14%
11% Non-
woven
11% 不織布
Fiber
• Assume that 30 ton (dry wt.) of 6%聚乙烯膜
PE
6%
diaper is recycled per month. 65% 4%其他
4% Others
65%
絨毛紙漿
Raw Production Price Gross Fluff Fiber
Material (ton/month) (NT$/ton) Income

Fluff Fiber 19.5 ~$12,000 $234k Total Gross Income of

Polyacrylate 4.2 ~$50,000 $210k
NT$474,000/month
from Recycling Materials.
LDPE 1 ~$30,000 $30k

Economic Assessment
Eco-value-added Products
• Industrial cardboards • C2-C6 alcohol by
• The eco-value-added Pd/Graphene
products for culture and
creative industries

• Absorbent pads for pet or • Rare metal ion

industrial purpose adsorbents
• Polyacrylate Fibers
• dehumidifier

• Plastic bags
• Garbage cans

Future Applications
 Effect & Impact
Blue Economy

- Save 72000 trees not being chopped off per month

- Save 20 ton water per ton diaper recycled pulp
 Blue Economy: Diaper Recycling Union

Man power for house keeping

Taiwan Hsinchu Green Industry Alliance
Resource Integration NanoPlus
Strategy Instruction Diaper Recycling Union: 5 companies
Multiply Energy

Xin Ying
Ministry of Health and Welfare.,
Hsinchu Environmental Bureau Da Fon

Paper Hut Nest

For Cultural and Creative
Yong Feng Yu Products
Health Bureau, Social Affairs
St.
Bureau, and Joseph
Home,
Hukou Township Office Diapers
Merries
Charity
platform
Army Force Training North
District Joint Test Center、 Grabio
EPB Alternative Military Service

TSMC, Macronix,
Gigabyte , Accton, and
Nikon Foundation

Yonglin Foundation,
Rotary Club of Hsinchu,
Leofoo Village