Recycled Diapers Go on Sale in Japan

Japanese company Unicharm has started selling recycled diapers for children and adults in the country. This is reported by the British newspaper The Guardian.

According to the publication, the company calls its diapers “horizontally” recycled, since the recycled products also produce diapers, and not some other product. As Unicharm explained, during the recycling process, used diapers are sterilized, bleached, and treated with fragrances using ozone to prevent the presence of bacteria and unpleasant odors.

“Customers who have used these products said that they are comfortable and no different from regular [diapers],” the company said in a statement.

At the same time, recycled diapers have been used in hospitals and nursing homes in Kagoshima Prefecture, where Unicharm is located, since 2022.

As the publication notes, the start of sales of recycled diapers occurred against the backdrop of a sharp drop in demand in Japan for baby diapers caused by the aging of the Japanese population.

For example, in March, a major Japanese paper product manufacturer, Oji Holdings, announced the imminent cessation of production of baby diapers. The company explained this by a sharp drop in demand for such products. At the same time, representatives of Oji Holdings stated that the company will use the freed-up production capacity to increase the volume of production of hygiene products for the elderly.