Dutch project transforms used toilet paper into asphalt and bioplastics
After being treated and filtered, the cellulose present in discarded paper can be used for paving bike lanes and even in bioplastics and construction materials
Always very engaged in recycling and sustainability projects, the Netherlands now has a project that is recycling used toilet paper to make use of its fibers. The material, which in the country is directly disposed of in the toilet, goes through a cleaning, filtering and sterilization system in a waste treatment plant. This allows the separation of cellulose fibers from the paper, which can then be used to make up asphalt, make bioplastics and construction materials.
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The Dutch companies CirTec and KNN Cellulose are responsible for the innovation, which is in the testing phase and may be an alternative to disposing of a type of waste that is generally a burden in the treatment process. The pulp resulting from the treatment helps to give more permeability to the soil, increase the absorption of rainwater and the durability of the track.
The technology currently recycles around 400 kg of pulp per day and has already paved a one kilometer stretch of the cycle path that connects the cities of Leeuwarden and Stiens with the material – each ton of asphalt uses three kilograms of pulp fibers. The next step is to expand the project to the whole country - the potential is enormous, as the Netherlands has a large extension of cycle paths.
Image: Material resulting from the recycling process of used toilet paper. Photo: Disclosure/CirTec.
“The Netherlands uses nearly 180,000 tonnes of toilet paper each year, and its preference for luxury toilet paper gives sewage a high economic potential to remove pulp, which is of superior quality,” said Carlijn Lahaye, director of CirTec, to The Guardian.
In the conventional method of sewage treatment, after filtering, the cellulose fibers would follow along with the waste sludge for incineration, without any type of use, says Lahaye. With the initiative, used toilet paper gains new life and commercial appeal.
The video, in English with automatic Portuguese subtitles, better explains the used toilet paper recycling project.
