£14m nappy recycling site would be the UK’s largest

HAYES could become home to the UK’s largest nappy recycling factory, if plans are approved by Hillingdon Council.

Knowaste, the UK’s first company to recycle AHPs including nappies, incontinence pads and feminine hygiene products, submitted the plans on Monday, September 14.

The company are looking to invest around £14m in the development of its new site, Hayes 180, which is planned for launch in early 2017 on a currently empty brownfield site.

The plans involve developing a state-ofthe-art Absorbent Hygiene Product (AHP) recycling facility on an industrial site in Uxbridge Road, which would handle at least 36,000 tonnes of AHP waste every year.

If approved, Hayes 180 would be the biggest plant of its kind in the UK.

The sustainable facility would process at least 36,000 tonnes of AHP waste per annum, and create up to 20 jobs including administrative, site operative and technical positions.

Paul Richardson, UK Business Development Director at Knowaste, said: “We believe that our investment will have a very positive impact within the local community and we are looking forward to engaging local schools, businesses and residents to highlight the environmental benefits of Knowaste coming to their area.

“Our planning submission will not alter the existing building including design.

“The only change will be the internal use of the building for our recycling technology.

“Hayes 180 is the start of an exciting phase for Knowaste, and the area of West London offers a great foundation for the development of our technology.”

The Knowaste system uses a bespoke recycling technology to transform AHPs into high quality plastics that are bagged and sent off site for reuse. The high quality fibre material is processed into a premium grade pet litter and bagged for direct delivery to wholesale and retail outlets.

The recycling of AHPs is considered to be the most sustainable solution to managing this specific waste, saving up to 70% of carbon dioxide emissions when compared to the usual disposal methods of landfill and incineration. The unique Knowaste process is able to recycle about 97% of the AHP product.

Originating from North America, Knowaste has been researching and developing technology to recycle AHPs since the 1990s.