Unicharm plans direct diaper recycling scheme in Japan

TOKYO – Unicharm, the world’s third largest diaper maker, will turn used diapers into new ones which will come onto the market in 2022.

The Japanese company plans to introduce more than ten facilities for diaper-to-diaper recycling by 2030, as it bolsters efforts to reduce waste, according to a report in Nikkei Asia.

Initial used diaper collections and recycling based on an ozone sterilization system will start in Tokyo.

Recycling diapers used to be a complicated process, but new technology has made it more efficient, the company says. Since 2016, Unicharm has been accumulating knowledge on recycling methods by conducting experiments in Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan.

Unicharm’s initiative comes at a time when there is an increasing amount of diaper waste, as Japan’s population rapidly ages and diaper demand grows among the elderly.

“More people will be using diapers in an aging society and the proportion of disposable diapers in waste increases,” Kenji Ueda, general manager of Unicharm’s environmental, social and corporate governance division told the Tokyo newspaper. “We want to aim for recycling that enables diaper waste to be remade multiples times into new diapers.”

Unicharm has the leading share of Japan’s diaper market. As the country’s elderly population grows, so does its adult diaper market. In 2019, the market had expanded by about 49% from 2011 to 8.6 billion pieces, according to the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association.

Although another Japanese diaper maker, Kao, is also working on reducing waste by producing plastic pallets from waste generated during the manufacture of diapers, Unicharm’s initiative of turning old diapers into new ones is seen as the world’s first direct recycling scheme.