IRVING - Kimberley Clark has partnered with recycling specialist TerraCycle to launch a free recycling programme in the US for its Huggies diaper packaging.
The Huggies Free Recycling Program will allow consumers to recycle outer plastic packaging of Huggies’ baby diapers and wipes with packaging from other brands from Kimberly-Clark also included in the programme.
This includes Pull-Ups, Goodnites, U by Kotex, Depend, Poise, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva.
TerraCycle estimates that in the US, less than half of the 80 million tonnes of packaging waste produced annually gets recycled, including packaging from the baby and personal care industry. The Huggies Free Recycling Program will help keep more packaging from diapers, wipes and other personal care and hygiene products out of landfills and incinerators, it says.
The scheme is open to any interested school, individual or community organisation. Participants can sign up on TerraCycle’s Huggies Free Recycling Program page, download a prepaid shipping label, and send in the plastic packaging.
Once received at TerraCycle’s material recovery facilities, the plastic packaging is shredded, cleaned and recycled into raw materials used to make new products.
This programme does not accept diapers, wipes, training pants, bedwetting products, underwear and bladder leakage products, disposable swim pants, menstrual hygiene products, and toilet paper.
Andrea Zahumensky, Kimberly-Clark’s north American baby & childcare president, explained: “Huggies puts the consumer at the heart of all we do.
“We set out to make our consumers lives better while making the smallest environmental impact possible. Our partnership with TerraCycle supports that ambition and minimizes our plastics footprint.”
Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, added: “There’s a common misconception that single-use flexible plastic packaging can only be thrown away, but technically, almost anything can be recycled.
“Our partnership with Huggies and Kimberly-Clark makes it easy and convenient for consumers to recycle hard-to-recycle packaging and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
TerraCycle specialises in creating and operating first-of-their-kind platforms in recycling, recycled materials, and reuse.
In the US the Huggies Free Recycling Program will join TerraCycle’s extensive network of over 550 free recycling initiatives, launched in partnership with more than 300 organisations worldwide. To date, TerraCycle has recycled over 8.5 billion items.
