BIRMINGHAM MANAGER APPOINTED TO HEAD UP OPERATIONS

Published Date: 2008-12-17
By: PRESS RELEASE

Knowaste, the world’s leading developer of recycling technologies for nappies and absorbent hygiene products, which recently revealed its plans to build the UK’s first nappy recycling plant in Tyseley, has appointed Dave Jelley as General Manager. 

Jelley (58), who was born in Birmingham and lives in Walsall, has been in the waste industry for 38 years, which has included running his own business. Recently he has been working with designers and construction engineers to build Material Recycling Facilities at SITA, Willenhall and at AWM, Wolverhampton. 

Jelley’s role will be initially to project manage the development of the new nappy recycling facility at Tyseley upon planning permission being granted and to develop close links with local stakeholders. When the plant is open he will be responsible for all operations.  This will include the daily running and staffing of the site, managing transportation, deliveries and general maintenance.  Jelley said: “I have been in the industry 38 years and this is the most exciting business that I have ever been involved in to date. “Knowaste’s technology is set to revolutionise the way the UK deals with nappy waste and ensure that it does not go to landfill. The region will also be able to be proud of itself for leading the way in the UK when it comes to recycling innovation.” 

Proposals for a 42,000 sq ft plant at the former Atlas Works site on Redfern Rd recently went on display at Birmingham City Football Club.   The plant will be capable of recycling 30,000 tonnes of Birmingham’s nappies a year, significantly reducing the amount of municipal waste sent to the region’s shrinking available landfill, helping the local authority to meet landfill diversion targets.Recycled plastic is used to make products such as roof tiles while the non-recyclable waste is used to generate electricity which is sold into the Grid.  

When fully operational the new facility will be based on Knowaste’s successful models in other countries which have recycled over 200,000 tonnes of nappies. Bedliners and incontinence products will also be recycled to make a variety of products including plastic cladding and roof tiles.   If its planning application is successful Knowaste hopes the plant will be operational in 2009.   

For more information please contact Sarah Rice or Matt Wooldridge on 01179 073 400 or email: sarah@jbp.co.uk or matt@jbp.co.uk   

CHANGING THE WAY WE DISPOSE OF NAPPIES

Published Date: 2008-11-12
By: PRESS RELEASE

The vast majority of parents (95%) in the UK want nappy recycling as part of their standard household waste collection rather than send them to landfill, according to a new survey by askamum.co.uk. And the Nappy Days Survey also shows the average family is willing to pay an extra £2.15 a month to have nappies collected for recycling – with 8% willing to pay up to £10. 

The findings provide insights into how parents view disposable nappies within the wider recycling picture – with 93% feeling a degree of uneasiness when throwing nappies out with the rest of their waste.  Editor of askamum.co.uk Nichola Lashmar said: “The askamum.co.uk survey clearly shows that our parents are seriously concerned about the number of disposable nappies they are being forced to throw away on a daily basis.  "The research shows that the fact these incredibly common household waste items are still sent straight to landfill without any option for recycling is a worry for parents. "Landfill sites in the UK are already seriously over used so it is vital we find alternatives such as recycling for disposable nappies." 

The research also showed more than 90% would segregate nappies for collection and recycling in a similar way to other items, such as glass and tins. And 83% supported a fortnightly collection knowing nappies would be recycled rather than taken to landfill. Only 12% of the total number of respondents consistently use or used washable cloth nappies – despite 43% of families having planned on using them prior to their baby being born. Over half of respondents said they had no plans to use washable nappies from the start. 

Currently in the UK there are no recycling facilities for nappies, however, plans have recently been submitted by Knowaste, an international provider of technology solutions for absorbent hygiene products, to provide such a service in Birmingham. Roy Brown, chief executive of Knowaste, said: “The askamum.co.uk survey clearly shows that parents want the choice of being able to recycle disposable nappies – with 86% preferring this to other options such as incineration, composting and landfill. “This information, direct from the parenting community, demonstrates that recycling options for nappies could be a significant way of helping local authorities reach vital targets. “If we want to help close the gap in recycling rates compared to other countries in Europe there must be a concerted effort to look at the options available to deal with nappies and other absorbent personal hygiene products, such as incontinence products.”

 

Ends

 Notes to editors: www.askamum.co.uk is the website for Mother and Baby and Pregnancy & Birth magazines. We provide real solutions for real mums, embrace the diverse roles they play and get them talking to each other. Link to Audit Commission report: “Well disposed: responding to the waste challenge” http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports/NATIONAL-REPORT.asp?CategoryID=&ProdID=C0CDCBFE-24E0-494d-824D-F053A576661E&fromPRESS=NATIONAL-REPORT  Sunday Times report on washable nappies not being as environmentally-friendly as first thought: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4969413.ece  Link to Knowaste website: www.knowaste.com  Key findings from the survey: 

• 1,645 mums and dads took part
• 30% men – 70% women
• Average age 30.7 years
• 63.5% were married; 23.8%; 6.4% were single
• 70.6% had at least one baby in nappies
• 80% did not know that it will soon be possible to recycle nappies in the UK
• 95% said they like to see nappy recycling in their area
• biggest reason given (circa 84%) to having a local nappy recycling service was the fact that nappies are one of the largest household items still disposed of in landfills with no effort to divide the material
• 93% feel a degree of uneasiness about throwing their nappies out with the rest of their waste
• 93% of respondents would be prepared to segregate nappies as they do for other waste items
• 82% happy to have fortnightly collection for nappies knowing they could be recycled rather than sent to landfill
• 59% are worried about government plans to tax domestic waste but 64% are willing to pay for nappy recycling. Average amount willing to pay per month £2.15
• One third said they would not be willing to pay anything.
• 84% would prefer to dispose of nappy waste by recycling as against incineration (8.6%)
• The majority of respondents felt that a combination of the individual, nappy manufacturers, local authorities, and the waste industry should be responsible for the costs of nappy recycling
• Majority of respondents felt that incineration and recycling both have a part to play in effective waste management but when it came to nappies it was heavily biased to recycling

 Key nappy recycling facts: 

• Populations are rising fast, which will create more nappy waste
• The latest records in the UK by the National Statistics Office sets the population at 60.2 million and set to rise to 67 million by 2031
• In England and Wales the number of Live births in England and Wales increased for the fifth successive year in 2006
• The use of disposable nappies has increased over the past 20 years as a result of their convenience
• In the UK around 8million disposable nappies are used every day and one baby's disposable nappies fill 40 black sacks in a year
• At least four-and-a-half trees are needed to produce the disposable nappies for one baby
• Disposable nappies may take up to 500 years to decompose, essentially making them present in our landfills forever
• For every tonne of nappy waste recycled, 400kg of wood, 145 cubic metres of natural gas and 8,700 cubic metres of water is saved

 

Nappy recycling plans go on show in Birmingham

Published Date: 2008-10-29
By: birmingham post

birmingham post

Knowaste, a developer of recycling technologies for nappies and personal care products, has revealed plans for the UK’s first nappy recycling plant, in Tyseley.

Proposals for a 42,000 sq ft plant at the former Atlas Works on Redfern Rd will go on public display in the international suite at Birmingham City FC 10am – 8pm. Members of the development team will be on hand.

Recycled plastic from nappies is used to make roof tiles while non-recyclable waste is used to generate electricity.

Knowaste president and CEO Roy Brown said: “Birmingham is recognised as one of the UK’s leading cities in terms of commitment to recycling and sustainable technologies. We’re excited by the prospect of becoming part of this community and I look forward to meeting people, Tyseley residents in particular, who would like to find out more.”

The plant will be capable of recycling 30,000 tonnes of Birmingham’s nappies a year, significantly reducing the amount of municipal waste sent to the region’s shrinking available landfill, helping the local authority to meet landfill diversion targets.

The new facility, which will replace derelict industrial buildings, will be based on Knowaste’s successful models in other countries which have recycled over 200,000 tonnes of nappies.

Bedliners and incontinence products will also be recycled at the plant.

If its planning application is successful Knowaste hopes the plant will be operational in 2009.

The £6 million plant is set to create around 15 new jobs and could potentially generate turnover of around £50 million for its owner.

Knowaste has signed an agreement with Birmingham-based collection company, Alpha Wastecare (Midlands) to collect the used items from hospitals and nursing homes in the city.

It is thought the contract could be worth £45 million to Alpha over the 10-year agreement period.

Once the nappies have been collected they will be delivered to the plant where the reprocessing begins.

The nappies are first washed and then the material is mechanically separated into individual components so the super absorbent polymers, wood pulp and plastic can be recycled.

The reclaimed components comprise pulp fibres and plastic components which are then shipped to a company in Belgium where they are used to manufacture cladding, roof tiles and guttering.

The plant would be self-sustaining as all the non-recyclable waste is converted into green energy to power the facility.

Currently around 800,000 tonnes of used nappies finds its way into landfill in the UK – enough to fill Wembley Stadium eight times. Notes to editorsFor further information please contact Chris Lawrance or Jennifer Bryant-Pearson on 0117 9073400, or email chris@jbp.co.uk; jennifer@jbp.co.uk  

PLANS FOR UK’S FIRST NAPPY RECYCLING PLANT REVEALED

Published Date: 2008-10-23

Knowaste, the world’s leading developer of recycling technologies for nappies and personal care products, is revealing its plans to build the UK’s first nappy recycling plant in Tyseley. Proposals for a 42,000 sq ft plant at the former Atlas Works site on Redfern Rd will go on display in the International Suite, Birmingham City Football Club on Thursday 30 October, 10am – 8pm.  Members of the development team will be on hand to respond to queries.   Roy Brown, president and CEO, Knowaste, said: “Birmingham is recognised as one of the UK’s leading cities both in terms of commitment to recycling and embracing sustainable technologies. We’re excited by the prospect of becoming part of this community and I look forward to meeting people, and Tyseley residents in particular, who would like to find out more about Knowaste and our plans.”  The plant will be capable of recycling 30,000 tonnes of Birmingham’s nappies a year, significantly reducing the amount of municipal waste sent to the region’s shrinking available landfill, helping the local authority to meet landfill diversion targets. The new facility, which will replace derelict industrial buildings, will be based on Knowaste’s successful models in Canada which have recycled over 200,000 tonnes of nappies.  Bedliners and incontinence products will also be recycled to make a variety of products including plastic cladding and roof tiles.   If its planning application is successful Knowaste hopes the plant will be operational in 2009.  

Notes to editors:For more information please contact Sarah Harris or Matt Wooldridge on 01179 073 400 or email sarah@jbp.co.uk or matt@jbp.co.uk

Pioneering Nappy Recycling - Could be Heading to Kent

Published Date: 2008-08-05

Kent has been earmarked as a potential site for a pioneering recycling facility, which provides the first ever environmentally friendly and cost effective solution for disposable nappies. Canadian company Knowaste has confirmed that it is looking at Kent as a potential location to site its recycling technology for absorbent hygiene products, including nappies, bedliners, and incontinence products, as part of a UK-wide £20m investment programme.

Recently the company announced its first site in Birmingham, which will go live at the beginning of 2009. In Kent, 800,000 tonnes of household waste is generated annually and it is estimated that circa 5% of landfill waste in the UK is made up of disposable nappies.  The Knowaste recycling process enables 98% of the disposable nappy to be removed from the waste stream and recreated into a variety of products, including plastic cladding, roof tiles, bicycle helmets and plastic injection and extrusion products. 

Roy Brown, President and CEO of Knowaste, said: "In the UK the need to recycle more and divert waste from landfill is high on the political and local government agenda and we are currently looking at a number of prime locations across the UK as part of our business growth plan for the next five years. "Through first the Kent Waste Forum in 2005, Kent Waste Partnership and Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy, the county is showing itself to be very aware of the significant problems presented by nappy disposal and the need for further recycling.”  Continued Brown: “Kent, like the rest of the UK, has a nappy waste challenge to face up to.

Based on the national average of some 5% of landfill waste being disposable nappies, this equates to some 4,000 tonnes a year in the county’s case.” "There is currently 750,000 tonnes of nappy waste created in the UK alone which is enough to fill hundreds of Wembley stadiums. When all our plants are fully up and running 13% of all the UK’s nappy waste will be diverted away from landfill and recycled." Knowaste’s plans are likely to be well received by local authorities, including those in the Kent region. The UK has been set targets by the EU Landfill Directive to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill to 7% of the 1995 levels by 2010. Local authorities also face a spiralling landfill tax bill with the Treasury agreeing to increase the Landfill Tax standard rate – currently £32 per tonne – going up each year in April until at least 2010/11. 

Once its initial investment programme in the UK is complete, Knowaste aims to handle 100,000 tonnes of nappies per annum across the country, as well as processing other absorbent hygiene products including bedliners, and incontinence products. Up to now nappies and other absorbent products have been one of the few remaining household items that go straight to landfills, incinerator or composting facilities. Based on the fact that a child in nappies up to the age of two and half years will use 6,000 nappies, combined with a UK population set to rise by seven million by 2031, there has been an urgent need for a recycling solution. 

The Real Nappy campaign was introduced to encourage people to use washable cotton nappies. However, the Environment Agency’s report identified a number of environmental issues with this scheme and washable nappies due to the increased amount of energy used at home to wash the nappies, the water consumed, and drainage waste. This further highlights the increasing need for an effective recycling system in the UK. The Knowaste vision is to contribute to the long term health of the planet by introducing cost effective technologies that can recycle disposable absorbent hygiene products. The company began research in this area in 1989 and has been commercially active for the past 10 years. Knowaste has processed and diverted over 200,000 tonnes of nappies in that time.  

Notes to editorsFor further information please contact Chris Lawrance or Sarah Rice on 0117 9073400, or email chris@jbp.co.uk; sarah@jbp.co.uk

 

Birmingham to get first nappy processing facility

Published Date: 2008-04-23
By: Liz Gyekye

Waste management firm Knowaste has announced that it will open its first nappy processing facility in Birmingham later this year.

The company signed a contract with Birmingham-based Alpha Waste Care which will collect nappies from nursing homes and hospitals and deliver them to the plant.

Knowaste chief executive Roy Brown said that the plant will process 30,000 tonnes of nappy waste per year. Brown said that 98% of disposable nappy or incontinence pads could be removed from the waste stream. According to Knowaste, the outer coating materials of nappies are made from mixed plastics.

Brown said: "When the nappy is received by us we use a gasification process to shred the material, pulper it, separate the plastics and de-water the slurry. We then scoop up all the plastic and the recycled material is then used to make plastic roofing. The slurry that is left is then used for energy to power the rest of our plant.

Knowaste hopes to expand its projects in the UK and is planning to build more facilities over the next five years. Brown is in talks with local councils and is trying to arrange householder nappy collections to tackle the estimated three billion nappies that are thrown away in the UK each year.

Knowaste chief executive Roy Brown

UK's first nappy recycling plant

Published Date: 2008-04-24
By: Karen McVeigh

Britain is to get its first disposable nappy recycling plant, which will convert the mountain of waste which goes into landfill every day into plastic, cladding and roof tiles. Knowaste, a Canadian company which recycles nappies and other products in the US, plans to invest more than £20m in the UK plant over five years.

The facility, earmarked for Tyseley, Birmingham, will enable the recycling of around 30,000 tonnes of nappies, about 4% of Britain's nappy waste a year, and aims to eventually recycle up to 13%.

A European directive has set targets to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by 2010 and local authorities face a spiralling landfill tax bill as the Treasury has agreed to increase the current rate of £32 a tonne each year until at least 2010/11.

Knowaste, which has signed a contract with the Midlands collection company Alpha, will initially process nappies, bedliners and incontinence products from commercial sources such as hospitals and nurseries, but plans to eventually target the domestic market.

About 750,000 tonnes of nappy waste is thought to be created in the UK each year, enough to fill eight Wembley stadiums.

Environmental groups such as the Women's Environmental Network and the Real Nappy Campaign argue that recycling is not the solution to the landfill problem, and urge a change in consumer behaviour to reduce waste.