Press Releases

Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Head Office: Nakano-ku, Tokyo; President: Hirohiko Ejiri; hereafter "KWI") and Nippon Paper Crecia Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Atsumi Yasunaga; hereafter "Nippon Paper Crecia") have begun joint development ("the project") aimed at commercializing environmentally friendly paper diapers that contribute to resource recycling by making it easier to recycle plastics and other materials that have been separated and treated using the Used Diaper Separation and Treatment System ("the System"), KWI's used diaper separation and treatment system.

Currently in Japan, used diapers are mainly disposed of as general waste by incineration facilities operated by local municipalities and waste disposal companies. The amount of used diaper waste is predicted to increase in the future, driven by the progression of Japan's aging population. This has led to growing interest and demands for separating components including excrement, pulp, polymers, plastics and other materials for recycling.

The System has been developed by KWI to recycle used diapers that have traditionally been disposed of by incineration. In November 2023 KWI launched the business, which involves sterilizing, cleaning and breaking down used diapers, separating the components into plastics such as plastic bags and treated water containing pulp, and treating the waste. By recycling the separated and treated plastics, pulp and other materials into materials such as raw materials for products and fuel, the System not only reduces used diaper waste and facilitates resource recycling, it also helps to reduce energy usage and CO₂ emissions from the waste incineration process.

To encourage resource recycling from used diapers, since 2022 KWI and Nippon Paper Crecia have been jointly pursuing a project to study designs for easily recyclable paper diapers and improve separation and treatment processes. Leveraging the results of studies conducted by the two companies to date, the project will start full-scale development of paper diaper products that make it easier to recycle plastics and pulp that have been separated and treated using the System, without compromising on user comfort or functionality.

Under the project, Nippon Paper Crecia will contribute its information on paper diaper products and KWI its insight into separation and treatment, with the aim of developing environmentally friendly paper diaper products that can be more easily recycled. More specifically, Nippon Paper Crecia will manufacture prototypes, and KWI will verify the results of separating and treating the prototypes through the System, while considering paper diaper product specifications that will help improve the quality of the separated and treated plastics and pulp as materials. The project will also consider improvements and other innovations related to the separation and treatment processes employed by the System, verify the effects of CO₂ emission reductions from the combination of the System and commercialized paper diapers, and also consider prototype recycled products using the separated and treated materials.

Through the development of easily recyclable and environmentally friendly paper diapers utilizing the Used Diaper Separation and Treatment System, KWI and Nippon Paper Crecia will help build a recycling-oriented economy and realize a decarbonized society, in an effort to further contribute to realizing a sustainable society.