Materials & sustainability
Operating facilities, pilots, plans and local policies are identified separately.
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Stories and developments
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5 articles · 1 source link
Company HQ: Sumitomo Seika · Japan ↗
Sumitomo Seika · Pilot · Company-published source
Sumitomo Seika announced on June 15, 2026 that a pilot plant for recycling superabsorbent polymer recovered from used diapers had begun operating at its Himeji factory in Japan.
Used-diaper material process in an ageing-population context; not adult-only feedstock.
Company HQ: Unicharm · Japan ↗
Unicharm · Implementation report
Unicharm reviews its RefF recycling program, including an adult-care product introduced for care facilities in 2022. The company reports a cumulative 7.04 million used diapers recycled by March 2026 and describes its own carbon comparison with incineration. Its 2026 retail expansion concerns a baby product.
See the source for its stated scope and implementation stage.
Company HQ: Unicharm · Japan ↗
www.unicharm.co.jp · Research and development · Company-published source
Unicharm announced on December 9, 2025, that it had begun developing a dry-washing process for recycling used disposable diapers with FujiClean in Ayagawa Town, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Drawing on dry-cleaning methods, the process combines a reusable solvent with the company's sterilisation and bleaching technology. Unicharm aims to reduce water use to about one-fiftieth of its existing water-based washing process.
Development work, not an operating nationwide service.
Company HQ: Kao · Japan ↗
www.kao.com · Pilot · Company-published source
Kao announced on October 1, 2025 that it was starting a used-diaper carbonization trial with Kamikatsu Town in Tokushima, Japan. The town’s Zero Waste Center WHY was the site for the second version of the treatment equipment.
Carbonisation testing under stated pilot conditions.
Company HQ: Daio Paper · Japan ↗ / Nippon Shokubai · Japan ↗
www.shokubai.co.jp · Collection and partnership · Company-published source
The agreement links household and facility collection with Omuta processing; complete material recovery remains a stated goal.
An agreement and collection service; future full-recycling goals are not achieved recovery rates.
Company HQ: Unicharm · Japan ↗ / Oji Nepia · Japan ↗
www.unicharm.co.jp · Implementation report · Company-published source
Unicharm announced on October 1, 2024 that Oji Nepia had joined its RefF resource-recovery initiative. The companies linked electricity generated using solid recovered fuel, or RPF, from used diapers with the production of toilet rolls launched in Kyushu.
Fuel and electricity recovery; distinct from diaper-to-diaper recycling.
Background references
EDANA
EDANA reviews initiatives for collecting and recycling absorbent hygiene products. The source surveys approaches; it does not establish that one system is available everywhere.
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These examples are selected routes to original information, not a ranking or a claim that a product is environmentally preferable. Company statements are attributed to their publishers.
