Environmental Impact Assessment of Closed Loop Recycling of Used Disposable Diapers

Abstract

The annual production volume of disposable diapers in Japan is approximately 23.5 billion (2018, for infants and adults). Most of used disposable diapers are incinerated and recycled in some areas , but currently they are limited to open recycling and thermal recycling. In this study, a new technology to recycle used disposable diapers by closed recycling, recycling pulp and Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) as a raw material for disposable diapers is applied to life cycle assessment (LCA). As for GHG emissions, 47 % and 39 % reductions were achieved for landfill and incineration. Land use and water consumption are also expected to be reduced in the same way.