PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHPs), including nappies, sanitary pads, tampons, pantyliners, adult incontinence products, and personal care wipes, are considered a non-recyclable fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). They are thus landfilled/incinerated, with serious environmental concerns, given that their decomposition time is estimated at 250-500 years. Each year, 900 000 tons of AHP waste are incinerated or landfilled in Italy, 8.5 million tons in Europe (some 2-4% of total MSW) and over 30 million tons globally.
At the same time, AHPs are complex products, encompassing three valuable materials (about 30% of their weight): plastics, fluff pulp (cellulose fibre) and a superabsorbent polymer (sodium polyacrylate - SAP). These constitute a huge potential source of secondary raw materials (SRMs), opening the way for a real market uptake of the recycled products. This, however, can be accomplished only if certain barriers are overcome, including inadequate collection systems, and uncertainty of sources, composition, quantity and quality, and mainly unclear End-of-Waste (EoW) rules and/or standards. Since the approval of the Circular Economy Package in 2015, several steps have been taken to build a common framework in Europe, but its implementation in Member States is still fragmented. According to Article 6 of the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), updated by the Circular Economy Package implementation directives in 2018, certain specified waste shall cease to be waste when it has undergone a recovery (including recycling) operation and complies with specific criteria to be developed in line with certain legal conditions. Such criteria should be set for specific materials by the Commission, using the procedure described in Article 39(2) of the Waste Framework Directive (so called "comitology"). So far there is a list of approximately 50 approved EoW criteria Decrees for different waste streams in Europe in different Member States.
OBJECTIVES
The general objective of LIFE HUBnSPOKE (H&S) was to contribute to EU2020 policies on waste and resource-use efficiency, including the Circular Economy Package and Action Plan, and increase the market uptake of secondary raw materials (SRMs) from Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP). The approach proposed for the valorisation of postconsumer AHP waste into fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) was expected to contribute to the implementation of the Waste Framework Directive, facilitating the adoption of End-of-Waste (EoW) criteria for AHP waste in Europe and fostering the real implementation of a SRM market.
In particular, the project had the following specific objectives:
- Create a new circular economy model through three main innovations: (i) new logistic system combining distributed waste collection/pre-treatment with centralised valorisation systems; (ii) technological and value chain optimisation; (iii) new business model validated by key economic actors;
- Demonstrate higher efficiency in management of AHP waste, reducing the related environmental impacts and improving its valorisation, when compared to current models;
- Monitor and validate the environmental benefits of the new model through a full Life Cycle Analysis (LCA);
- Demonstrate the industrial feasibility of the H&S model, through the setting up of a full pilot plant, involving the production, testing and certification of four final FMCG products (Swiffers, bed pads, printing paper, plastic pellets);
- Promote the replication and transfer of the model through value chain assessment, pre-commercial agreements and strategic alliances, with the aim of reaching 17 replicating plants in Europe (15 logistics Spokes and 2 logistics Hubs) five years after project end;
- Validate the business sustainability of the H&S model, through a complete business plan; and
- Inform and support the regulatory and policy process in Europe with the provision of guidelines and best practices for AHP EoW criteria.
RESULTS
The LIFE HUBnSPOKE (H&S) carried out an assessment of the functional and market requirements of consumer goods made from postconsumer absorbent hygiene product (AHP) waste. It installed pilot infrastructure at the site of the associated beneficiary Contarina for testing the feasibility of producing the prototypes of the four fast-moving customer goods. However, only the plastic bin prototype obtained from recycled plastic was validated; the cellulose applications (bed pads, wipes and high-quality paper) were unsuccessful due to their poor mechanical properties and odour issues. Moreover, the goal of creating a new circular economy model based on secondary raw materials was shown to be not economically viable.
Despite reducing the amount of AHP waste processed from 10 000 tonnes as planned to 3 000 t, the project team assessed the environmental benefits of AHP waste recycling. It calculated that the project’s approach yields annual emission savings of CO2eq of 739 t, NOx of 0.18 t and PM of 0.01 t.
Contarina is continuing to process AHP waste (around 10 000 tonnes/year) at its waste treatment plant in Spresiano (Treviso), obtaining recycled cellulose and recycled plastic (granules). These by-products are only suitable for cardboard manufacturing and a few applications for plastic goods manufacturing. However, due to their high content of impurities and odour issues, the two recycled materials (plastic and cellulose) can be only added in low percentages in the mixtures.
