In what is believed to be an Australian first, adult diaper waste from aged care facilities is being converted to a material that can be used as a fertiliser.
Essity, which manufactures and supplies incontinence brand TENA, launched the six-week trial in February, converting incontinence product waste to biochar using pyrolysis technology.
Waste from 10 aged care facilities was transported to a facility in Sale, in Eastern Victoria, where it was processed by a machine that heats waste materials in the absence of oxygen.
Project lead Rochelle Lake said the technology provided a solution to the growing issue of incontinence product waste.
"All of that used incontinence waste from residential aged care goes into landfill today," Ms Lake said.
Research has revealed waste from adult incontinence products already outweighs that of nappies, and is predicted to grow to four to 10 times the current amount by 2030, amid an ageing population.
"Most people are very conscious of nappy waste ... but this is an even bigger problem than that," Ms Lake said.
The project was funded by the federal government's National Product Stewardship Investment Fund to explore a more sustainable alternative to landfill and traditional incineration.
Reducing carbon emissions
The patented pyrolysis technology was developed in Victoria by environmental and social consulting firm Earth Systems and processed about 16 tonnes of waste over the six weeks.
The result was biochar — a residue made of carbon and ashes that can be used as a fertiliser to improve plant growth.
"We looked at what options were around with different waste companies, but there really was nothing — so we decided we had to start working on this ourselves," Ms Lake said.
"We'll be comparing the impact of the product going into landfill versus it going to pyrolysis and we expect to see a carbon emission reduction."
During the trial, participating aged care facilities were provided with specific bins to separately store incontinence product waste, which was then transported to a waste processing facility in Sale.
Julie Roberts is the environmental cleaner at Central Gippsland Health's aged care provider Wilson Lodge, which participated in the trial.
She said incontinence products made up the majority of the facility's waste.
"It is pretty much most of our rubbish in our rubbish bin ... over the week we got to filling five or six big bins in the week," Ms Roberts said.
"It's fantastic to see that finally something's going to be done [with the waste] and it will make a difference, hopefully."
Considering a permanent solution
Ms Roberts said if the program was continued, Wilson Lodge could save money through less frequent rubbish bin collections.
About $5.6 million is spent on landfill disposal of used incontinence products each year in Australia.
Now the trial has concluded, Essity is assessing the feasibility of a more permanent solution for aged care services, while also considering what other products could be converted.
"The ideal scenario would be to have multiple machines in various locations across the state and country, because you don't really want to be transporting waste a long distance," Ms Lake said.
"There's the potential scope to include used period care products ... and I'm sure there's a range of other products that could be included as well.
"So once you prove the technology, it could be used across both residential as well as commercial … it's just the collection process that would need to be set up separately."
