Recycling Diaper Scrap into Luggage Cases

Recycling Diaper Scrap into Luggage Cases

When I tell people I'm in the plastic recycling industry, they often think I collect water bottles for a living. While this is somewhat the case, there is more to plastic recycling than just water bottles. In 2006, a relative of mine came to me with about 100 monthly tons of diaper cut-outs and asked if I could "get rid of it".

Diapers are made from non-woven fabric (making diapers water-resistant) composed usually of either PP (polypropylene) or a mixture of PP and PE (polyethylene). Often times, there is PET and chemical bonding agents in the mixture making the diaper cut-outs difficult to reuse. You need to be extremely careful when dealing with diaper scrap.

Diaper cut-outs often times come directly from the diaper manufacturers. The cut-outs are the small pieces of non-woven fabric left over from diaper production. As the diaper factories can no longer utilize the cut-outs, they are baled and sold to recyclers like me for processing.

My relative's batch of diaper cut-outs came directly from a well-known brand that guaranteed stability in supply and quality. After getting the sample, I did the standard burn test with my trusted jet lighter. The burn test is a quick way of determining plastic type. This is done by igniting the plastic and observing the color of flame, the smell, the way the plastic melts, and if any residue is left. As the burn test is not an exact science, I ran a lab test where the results can be shown to future customers. The diaper scrap ended up being almost 100% PP.

As PP is one of the most used types of plastic, it wasn't difficult finding a buyer. A good buddy of mine operates a large luggage case factory and is always in search of PP and ABS. I knew he would be more than interested in this. Diaper scrap in its original form, non-woven fabric, cannot be used for manufacturing. It must first be melted down and processed into plastic pellets.

The recycled pellets are then mixed with virgin plastic resin to produce the final product. With this being the case, I sent my buddy a 5KG sample to test. After several days, he confirmed the usability of the diaper scrap and negotiated a price for the commodity. To this day, I ship him a monthly supply of diaper cut-outs that are eventually down-cycled into luggage cases.

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