In order to provide a new housing solution for low-income people, researchers in Japan have developed a new housing structure.
Recycle diapers and replace some of the sand to build a house.
Researchers think it's a very eco-friendly and great idea, because diapers have become the biggest headache.
Diaper waste mainly comes from baby families and nursing homes.
According to Japanese media reports, the amount of diaper waste has been growing, from 2 million tons in 2015 to 2.2 million tons in 2020.
According to 2018 U.S. statistics, the country discards 4.1 million tons of diapers each year.
I checked, and there are more than 2 million tons of diaper waste in China every year.
People who have raised children have a deep understanding of this number.
When I was a baby, at least five or six tablets a day, if I couldn't grasp the child's rules, it was common to use more than a dozen tablets a day, and a child's diapers would take 1-2 years. Diapers alone are a lot of expenses.
Treated diapers
Not only is diaper waste abundant, but it is also difficult to dispose of.
Generally speaking, diaper waste can be disposed of in two ways, incineration or landfill.
However, no matter which one you choose, it will have a very large impact on the environment.
Incineration will bring a lot of harmful gases, because of the high humidity of dirty diapers, it is easy to damage the incinerator, and the main components of diapers are cotton, wood pulp, polyester, polyethylene and polypropylene, which are difficult to be degraded in nature. Landfills are also just piled up there, with no real benefit.
So, for environmental reasons, researchers at Kitakyushu University in Japan decided to recycle diapers to build houses.
The research team is not theoretical, and they actually built a 36-square-meter single-story diaper house in Indonesia.
Is the diaper house firm?
To test their idea, the researchers began collecting used dirty diapers, washing them to remove solids from them, then neutralizing the "harmful components" on them with chemicals, and finally bleaching, drying, chopping them, and mixing them into concrete.
After 28 days of curing, the samples were subjected to a load-bearing test.
Based on the results, the maximum mixing ratio of diapers that meet the safety standards is then calculated.
A total of 6 diaper mix ratios were tested, and the research team finally concluded:
Overall, the more the diaper is mixed, the less weight capacity it can bear, but within a certain range of values, the material is safe to use.
In the case of a single-storey house, the proportion of diapers can be up to 27%, in the case of a three-storey house, it will be reduced to 10%, and in the case of non-load-bearing walls and floors, it can be relaxed to 40%.
The "model house" built in Indonesia is a single-story structure, and the participation rate of diapers is 8%, and the 36-square-meter house uses about 200 diapers in total.
After testing, the research team felt that their idea was completely feasible. Next, they test the sound and heat insulation of the house to see if it is suitable for human habitation.
On May 18, 2023, the research team published the results of the study in Scientific Reports.
Detached from reality: recycling diapers is more expensive
At first glance, there is too much diaper garbage to dispose of, so it is used to build a house, just for waste use. Instead of part of the sand, the house is also cheaper, which is a very project.
However, if you think about it deeply, you will find that this idea is out of touch with reality.
Its philosophy is based on the fact that diaper recycling is free, in fact, diaper recycling is not only not free, but also very expensive!
According to the Japan Times, there is more and more diaper waste in Japan, mainly due to the aging population.
Nowadays, the main population of diapers has also slowly changed from children to the elderly.
In recent years, the proportion of diaper waste has also increased from 4.5% to 5.3% (as a proportion of household waste).
This has forced Japan to implement diaper recycling, which Tokyo's Hachioji City has done, but not very well.
Diaper recycling
The person in charge of the city's garbage management said: It is better to incinerate directly!
Normal garbage removal costs only 35 yen/kg (1.64 yuan/kg), but the cost of recycling diapers is 40-90 yen/kg (1.87-4.21 yuan/kg).
In comparison, the cost of incineration is relatively low.
If you're not sure what this price is, you can take a look at the fees for garbage disposal in Zhejiang Province. The maximum cost of 1 ton of domestic garbage is 360 yuan, which is equivalent to 0.36 yuan for 1 kilogram.
At last
Despite the difficulty of implementing it at the moment, the Japanese did not give up on recycling diapers, and after several years, initial results were achieved.
In April 2024, that is, this month, Japan launched the first recycled diapers with the concept of "horizontal recycling", which is produced by Unicharm.
The recycled diapers are processed strictly and then made into new diapers, which, according to the health department, meet safety standards.
It is now fully available, and is currently priced at 1,078 yen (50.4 yuan) for a pack of 42 pieces, which is more expensive than the regular product.
But I think that this diaper can't be sold in our country, and the price is not the key, the main thing is that the heart will be very responsive!