The evaluation of the used diapers recycling process in Bank Sampah Bersinar

Abstract

Disposal of used diapers causes environmental pollution problems. Bank Sampah Bersinar, which is located in Bale Endah, Kabupaten Bandung, West Java Province, Indonesia, has made an effort to recycle used diapers and has been operating since 2021 with a capacity of around 5 tonnes of used diapers per month. The process is started by shredding the used diapers and separating the plastic fraction. The fibre and super absorbent polymer (SAP) slurry are then cooked at about 85 °C and squeezed to separate the SAP gel. The fibre resting in the laundry bag is washed and then sun-dried. The performance of the process has been evaluated and reported in this paper. The recycling efficiency of fibre and plastic was around 1.12% and 31.9%, respectively. The highest loss occurred in the shredder, i.e., about 51% of the material was left in the bottom of the shredder. Both recycled fibre and plastic fractions still contained contaminants. The recycled plastic fraction was difficult to dry since it was contaminated by SAP gel. Three washing methods of recycled plastic have been tried. The recycled plastic fraction with 6–10% of moisture was obtained by using the counter-current washing system. About 73% of recycled fibre was categorised as long fibres, longer than 2 mm. However, the fibre fraction still contained plastic flakes contaminants. The cooking process at 180 °C reduced the number of microorganisms in the fibre fraction effectively. The recycling process still needs to be improved, especially to reduce material loss and get cleaner fibre and plastic fractions.