Used disposable baby diapers are one of the more clear-cut examples of a linear economy. They are typically used only once and then sent to incineration or landfill, without material recovery, even though they contain valuable polyolefin components, including nonwovens and films. According to data cited by the companies participating in the project, Cabrera and Garcia estimated that 6.73 million tonnes of disposable baby diapers were generated in the EU-28 in 2017. This shows the scale of a waste stream that remains largely unmanaged in Europe. The response to this problem is intended to be the cooperation of Woosh, Borouge International and BlueAlp. The partners announced that they had carried out a demonstration confirming that plastics from used baby diapers can be recovered and chemically recycled into feedstock for new polymers. According to the project participants, this is the first time such a loop has been demonstrated at industrial scale in Europe, which is expected to open the way to broader management of this demanding waste stream.
The basis of the initiative is a closed-loop model developed by the Belgian company Woosh. At the center of this system is the Woosh give-back diaper, designed with recycling in mind. The company supplies these products to childcare facilities and households and, after use, collects them again, creating a dedicated and traceable stream of used diapers intended for recycling. This way of organizing collection forms the starting point for further processing. Borouge International and BlueAlp worked with Woosh engineers to define the quality requirements that the recovered plastic must meet in order to be used as feedstock for BlueAlp's chemical recycling technology. Woosh then optimized its own mechanical separation process so that the plastic fractions obtained would meet these requirements.
Processing at the BlueAlp plant
The first industrial recycling trials were carried out at BlueAlp's plant in Ostend, Belgium. The recovered plastic fractions were processed using BlueAlp's pyrolysis technology, which converts them into a liquid hydrocarbon referred to as pyrolysis oil. According to the announcement, this oil is ISCC PLUS certified and meets the required quality specifications for further processing into new polymers, including materials suitable for the production of new diapers.
Peter Voortmans, Vice President Consumer Products Marketing at Borealis, said: “Chemical recycling of plastic from used diapers is far from a simple task. It requires careful pre-treatment to meet the specifications of the pyrolysis process. Together with Woosh and BlueAlp, we have been able to solve this challenge, demonstrating what is possible when teams work closely together toward a common goal.”
A model for the hygiene sector
Woosh is already scaling up its operating model. The company currently supplies and collects diapers across Belgium, and more than 30,000 children use the Woosh give-back diaper system every day. The diaper recycling plant launched in 2025 processes thousands of tonnes of used diapers annually. In the near future, the company's operations are to be expanded to France and the Netherlands, which will increase the volume of recovered plastic available for recycling.
Jeff Stubbe, CEO of Woosh, stated: “We have spent years building the collection network and the technologies that make this possible. Seeing that the plastic we recover from used diapers has been validated as a feedstock for the production of new polymers, and in the future potentially also new diapers, is exactly what we wanted to achieve. This is what actually closing the loop looks like.”
Valentijn de Neve, CEO of BlueAlp, added: “This is a fundamental example of what we want to achieve at scale at BlueAlp. It is highly significant that together we can address waste streams that are difficult to recycle and cannot be effectively managed by mechanical recycling methods, enabling their chemical recycling and return to demanding applications such as diapers in the healthcare and hygiene sector.”
The broader significance of this project concerns the entire European market. Significant quantities of absorbent hygiene products there still go to incineration or landfill within a linear model. The collaboration described is a practical proof of concept for circularity in this segment and shows that even very difficult waste streams can be brought back into circulation if the entire system, from product design through collection to processing, is properly designed and coordinated.
At chemical recycler BlueAlp's plant, plastic from Woosh baby diapers is converted into circular feedstock for new polymers
