Huggies® New Zealand

• Conception
• Pregnancy
• Childbirth
• Baby care
• Toddler
• Parenting
• Blogs
• Forum
• Products
• Promotions

• Recipes
  • Fertility Diet
  • Pregnancy Diet
  • Baby Food & Feeding
  • Toddler Food & Feeding
  • Family Food
• Book Club
• Baby Names
• Kids Activities
• Expert Panel
• Photo Centre
• Baby Room Designs
• More Tools
  • Week by Week Pregnancy Guide
  • Baby's eye colour
  • Child Height Calculator
  • Huggies eBooks
  • Baby Room Decorator
  • Share your story

• Baby
• Nappies
• The environment
• Huggies Envirocomp

• print

Huggies Nappies and Envirocomp Solution

NZ’s First Nappy Composting Plant Is Now Open!

The HUGGIES® Nappies and the Envirocomp Solution composting plant was officially opened in Canterbury on the 7th of August 2009. The opening boasts all the hallmark features of Kiwi ingenuity. This is not just a 1st for Canterbury but a 1st for New Zealand and we believe the world. It says a lot for the Canterbury region that this is the first place to commercialise this innovative composting solution for nappies.

To our knowledge it is also the 1st time that a global nappy brand has helped to commercialise the composting of nappies and we are delighted that HUGGIES® is involved. Co-founder Karen Upston says the opening could not have happened without the help of many people, “We knew that to be successful we would need to gain the support of the private and public sector because as a small business we could not do this on our own. To have global nappy manufacturer HUGGIES® come to the party with commercial sponsorship early on was a major step forward.”

Representatives from local and central government, business leaders, representatives from the College of Midwives, the Royal NZ Plunket Society, the local community, family and friends joined us at the opening to congratulate Karen and Karl Upston on establishing the first commercial nappy composting facility in New Zealand.

It all started in early 2007 when Karen and Karl (of Rangiora, North Canterbury) conducted a trial composting a significant amount of nappies per day. They approached local experts Hot Rot Organic Solutions about the possibility of their prototype composting unit being made available for their proposed trial. The five month trial involved over 200 families, six pre schools, a local maternity hospital, elderly residents and a branch of the IHC. The trial indicated that disposable nappies and incontinence products could be commercially composted, thereby reducing pressure on landfill. Based on this trial, the demand for this service exceeded their expectations and therefore the need for a commercial composting facility was identified.

For Canterbury residents who are keen to sign up to the service, please visit www.envirocomp.co.nz for details.

• The cost of the service works out at $5.30 per week based on a 6 month subscription to cover the cost of bags, collection and processing. The Kaikoura and Waimakariri District Councils are offering a $1 per week subsidy to their residents who subscribe for the 6 month collection service. So for the cost of a cup of coffee parents can choose to make a difference.”
• The new subscription service will start on August 17th. Nappies and incontinence products will be collected from households and businesses in the Christchurch, Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikoura Districts.

Composting Nappies

The HotRot in-vessel composting system is a cost effective alternative to landfill, that also produces top quality compost. Organic waste is a potential resource of both nutrients and organic matter that can be used to replenish soils under pressure from traditional agriculture. Composting offers a method of biological stabilisation that eliminates odours and pathogens, and renders a product that is safe and pleasant to use.

A device to separate out the plastic component of the nappy has been engineered into the composting plant.

• HotRot vessels will initially process 2.5 tonnes per day (with the capacity to process up to 10 tonnes of nappies per day).
• Nappies will be collected from commercial child care facilities in 240 litre wheelie bins
• Households are offered a weekly domestic collection weekly using a degradable bag at a subscription fee.
• Green waste as mix will be provided by local councils
• Incorporating nappy collection with general organic waste collection is the way forward and we will be encouraging local councils to provide this service.

Watch the Huggies Nappies and the Envirocomp Solution background video

Why are we doing this?

To demonstrate Huggies NZ’s ongoing commitment to product stewardship and to continually innovate to reduce our environmental footprint.

96% of all nappy changes in New Zealand are with disposable nappies and we know parents prefer the comfort in terms of skin care, dryness and leakage protection and the convenience of disposable nappies for their babies.

There is compelling evidence from government led life cycle analysis from the UK and elsewhere that both disposable nappies and cloth nappies have an equal amount of environmental impacts when you consider all aspects of production, use of resources and disposal however disposable nappies are often singled out for one reason – because they end up in a landfill.

Whilst nappies represent less than 2% of landfill, much less than food scraps and organic waste which makes up 54% of landfill, here at Huggies, we are keen to help reduce nappy waste further.

For more information visit www.envirocomp.co.nz