Intersection of Sanitation and Resource Recycling - Model Project for Collection of Disposable Diapers in Iki City (2002)

Intersection of Sanitation and Resource Recycling - Model Project for Collection of Disposable Diapers in Iki City (2002)

In 2002, Japanese society was in the midst of a full-scale aging society with a declining birthrate, and rapid demographic change was a real issue, especially in rural areas. Iki City in Nagasaki Prefecture was no exception, and as an area with an aging population rate of over 30%, it faced the triple burden of nursing care, medical care, and waste disposal.

Under these circumstances, the recycling of used disposable diapers attracted attention. At the time, a large amount of disposable diapers were incinerated as combustible waste, putting pressure on municipal waste disposal costs. In particular, disposable diapers discharged from welfare facilities and elderly households were large in both weight and volume, causing a burden on incinerators and disposal problems of incinerated ash.

In response to this issue, Iki City, with assistance from the Ministry of the Environment, launched a model project to shred, wash, and dry disposable diapers with a special machine and recycle them as a hygienic resource. Specifically, paper diapers from facilities and households are collected separately, washed, deodorized, and recycled as pulp. The project attempted to convert them into agricultural materials, heat insulating materials, etc.

The significance of this initiative was that it was not limited to the mere reuse of waste, but aimed to improve the sorting awareness of local residents and to provide an integrated solution for the welfare of the elderly and the reduction of environmental impact. In addition, the geographical restrictions unique to the remote island of Iki City (transportation costs and limited incineration facilities) also strongly encouraged the need for resource recycling.

This demonstration project is regarded as the forerunner of the later nationwide research on disposable diaper recycling, and gave great suggestions for recycling policies in welfare facilities and municipalities from the mid-2000s onward. Iki City's experiment was a progressive practice that sought to balance the utilization of local resources and independent welfare and environmental policies in an era of declining population.