The recycling pilot has been funded by Zero Waste Scotland and will be tested in Fife, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and North Lanarkshire before possibly being rolled out across the UK, if proven pratical.

Each year in Scotland, 160 million disposable nappies are sent to landfill, that’s 450,000 nappies every day. The recycling scheme should make it easier for people to recycle used nappies.

The nappies collected through the scheme can then be recycled into park benches, garden furniture, decking, bollards, railway sleepers, fencing, roof tiles and cardboard.

Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead, said disposable nappies have a huge impact on the environment. He said, “This innovative new scheme is a fantastic step forward for recycling and makes it easier for parents to do their bit for the environment.

“It’s great that new technologies allow us to recycle even more materials. In this way, we can reuse our waste and treat it as a valuable resource with the potential to boost our economy.”

For more information on the recycling scheme, visit Zero Waste Scotland.

Photography: Eli Duke @Flickr