Y napp Many returns
A new plan to recycle soiled nappies by melting them into diesel fuel is greener than compost. By Julie Iles.
A company that advertises environmentally-friendly nappy disposal has been sending waste to landfill, but it will begin turning used nappies into fuel by early 2018.
Nappy disposal service EnviroComp, has partnered with technology company Eneform, who have developed a novel technology to turn used tyres, industrial plastic, and nappies into oil and gas fuels.
Eneform chief executive Andrew Simecock, said the waste streams would be put in three differently heated tubes, which are under a vacuum. The waste would break down into char, oil and a gas similar to liquified petroleum gas. The process is known as pyrolysis.
Part of the gas is then used to power the plant, so it’s largely self-powering, said Simecock.
He said the oil could be used as boiler fuel at its crudest because it’s clean burning, but could also be refined into diesel.
‘‘We have supply agreements with people who are already keen to take the oil and gas, it’s very easy to sell on the open market.’’
Simecock said the technology is world leading because it is calibrated to different streams of waste, which they have been working to do for the past 7 years.
He said the partnership with EnviroComp to recycle nappies was ‘‘a nice add on’’.
‘‘Nappies have quite a high concentration of plastics, so surprisingly it does have quite a high energy content and particularly combining it with industrial plastics there’s a very high output of oil and gas,’’ Simecock said.
EnviroComp was set up by Karen Ashby in 2009. Ashby sold the business to building facilities services company OCS in 2011.
She re-purchased the company from OCS in August of last year with Frontier Group Partners after learning OCS had intended to exit the business in June.
Eneform is building two plants, in Canterbury and Waikato after successfully piloting the technology at the Fulton Hogan site in Christchurch.
The Canterbury site is expected to open in early 2018.
EnviroComp has facilities in Upper Hutt, Christchurch, Wellington and the UK. While the UK site continues to compost nappies, the New Zealand sites have been disposing nappies in landfills until the new plants are built.
Many customers have complained on social media that by the time the company debuts its sustainable alternative to landfill their children will no longer be wearing nappies.
The company has offered refunds to customers who had purchased the compost bags.
A spokesman for the Commerce Commission said the Commission had spoken to Ashby about the concerns raised by complainants.
Ashby said the ‘‘fuzzy period’’ between announcing the new waste stream plan and taking over the business was a frustrating consequence of having to re-purchase the company on short notice.
The company has maintained OCS’ client base of rest homes, pre-schools, and hospitals.
She said the cost of continuing to compost during the interim was not financially viable.
‘‘At the moment we’re in a skeleton operational state just trying to keep things going while we set things up.’’
Ashby said the company first started looking for this kind of ‘‘end-to-end’’ waste disposal solution when she first set up the business in 2009, but most technologies either never ended up making it to New Zealand, or could not handle EnviroComp’s waste.
Nappies have quite a high concentration of plastics, so surprisingly it does have quite a high energy content.’ ENEFORM CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANDREW SIMECOCK