Diaper Composting

Aug 10, 2019

6 min read

When you have your first child one of the first things you notice is the shear amount of diapers you go through. It’s amazing how much waste one little baby can create. The Dashing Family likes to do our best to reduce the amount of waste we’re contributing, we compost, recycle and I’ve even written for Enviro Dad about how to reduce food waste with toddlers, but I had always thought that diapers were just a necessary evil. Sure we could switch to cloth diapers, but that comes with its own set of issues.

Then Dashing Mom discovered that there is a process for composting diapers and not only that but there’s a company in Calgary doing it right now!

Soiled Diapers is a local Calgary company that has made it their mission to keep diapers out of landfills and with good reason. Did you know that it takes the average diaper more than 400 years to decompose in a landfill? Business has been good for Soiled Diapers, they’ve even picked up a contract from the Town of Redwood Meadows for diaper composting.

We have quickly signed up for their diaper composting service and are happy to report that all of our dirty diapers now get picked up every two weeks. And while we’re thrilled about the positive impact we’re having, it’s also an easy and affordable solution to our waste.

I chatted with co-owner Mark Arishenkoff about Soiled Diapers, how they got started and how the diaper composting process works.

I read that you had created this company initially as a school assignment, but what was it that drove you to create THIS company out of all of the ideas you could have chosen?

My partner and I went back to university later as mature (we use the term lightly) students. We had life experience, we have families, and we weren’t here to just put half an effort into a capstone class and our business degree. While most groups assigned the same project consisted of three to four members, we decided that the two of us were sufficient, and obtained the approval from our professor. We also broke from the norm when we decided that a hooka bar, mobile charging station, or brewery was an easy way out.

We decided to seriously consider the requirements of the project: a sustainable company in Calgary’s demographic, something that could be introduced with a “virtual” investment of $250,000, and it couldn’t be a food truck or restaurant. We narrowed our search to the green movement that had recently begun to gain traction (Calgary was launching their green bin program later in the same year), and had thought to look into commercial composting using worms. In our search for the right type of worm, the quantities, etc., we came across a machine developed overseas that could compost used disposable diapers. As we looked more into its authenticity we were more convinced that this was the unique business idea that we would model our project after. Of course we received top grades in the class (something this professor seldom – if ever – awarded), graduated after the semester was over, and promptly forgot about the project despite commendations from professor and classmates alike to actually launch the business. It wasn’t for about a year afterwards that he and I spoke again, with an uncanny intuition of wanting to contact the other in the same week, and decided to make a go of the idea we had birthed. We made some real world changes that were necessary (who really has a quarter million dollars just kicking around?), and have been swimming upstream ever since.

Explain to me the process of diaper composting. How does it work? Are all parts composted/recycled? Do you do it weekly/monthly or once you hit a certain amount of diapers?

We collect the used diapers on a schedule selected by our clients from the available options: Monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly. Other options are available to our commercial clients, but our private sales really make up the business at the moment. We bring the diapers back to our storage facility where they await composting. The machinery will compost 2.5 tons of material per day, but we are only collecting about 3 tons per month, so we have not purchased the equipment simply for efficiency purposes. It doesn’t seem to be a wise business decision to purchase something large and expensive that will only be used for 10 days of the year.

When the composting process begins, the diapers will be shredded with other organic materials before they enter the composting system. The equipment monitors the heat produced by composting and maintains a 43 to 65 degree C atmosphere which is sufficient to kill all dangerous human pathogens, but creates an ideal medium for composting bacteria to thrive. Moisture is monitored as the contents are mixed, and from start to finish, the equipment only requires 10-12 days.

At the back end (pun intended) of the process, we screen off any of the left over materials (plastics or other contaminants from clients) and send them off for further processing. When we say further processing, we mean that the plastics that do not enter the shredder (bags that the diapers are transported in) are bulked and sent for pelletizing or recycling. Any “dirty plastics” are sent to the landfill until such time as waste to energy becomes available in our area. With a waste to energy system available (C’mon Enerchem, please return our calls) 100% of the diaper could be diverted.

Now, there are some parts of the diaper that do not compost and still remain in the soil, which will reduce the quality of the compost. However, with the mixing process that we use, and adding other organic materials, the ppm of other content to compost will be well within any prescribed, and governing requirements. Keep in mind that our primary purpose is not to produce the highest quality compost for home gardens, although we certainly would like to have it approved for farming in the future (one step at a time). Our purpose is to divert waste from the landfill. The compost produced from diapers is highly moisture retentive (due to the SAP – super absorbent polymer or sodium polyacrylate) which makes it ideal for growing mediums involving non-food products. Imagine an energy company taking all the compost we produce in order to fulfill their environmental obligation to return their mine site back to a beautiful and livable environment!

The parts of the diaper that may need to go to the landfill works out to be approximately 1%. Here is the break-down of what that could look like: 34.1% Fluff pulp, 32.4% SAP, and 3.8% adhesives are what create and remain in the compost; 16.6% PP (polypropylene), 6% LDPE (low density polyethylene, 2.2% PET (polyethylene terephthalate) can all be recycled. Of the 4.8% of “Other” that a diaper is made up of, virtually all of it can be recycled or remains in the compost, which leaves an estimated 1% to go to a landfill. However, using the aforementioned waste to energy option, the entire diaper can be diverted from the landfill. 1% is just our conservative estimate.

Can wipes be included as well?

Absolutely! We like to keep things simple, and requiring a garbage for wipes just wouldn’t be simple.

Is diaper composting available for ANY diaper?

We can compost any diaper currently manufactured on the market today. That includes baby diapers and training pants (pull-ups), swim diapers, adult diapers, and incontinence products.

We can also compost items such as feminine hygiene products, puppy training pads, organic construction materials (think wooden forms that are dismantled and taken to landfills), pet waste (including organic cat litter – we can’t do the inorganic stuff. There is a limit even to our capacity), landscaping materials, natural textiles, regular food and green waste, and so much more! At the moment, we are only accepting diapers and wipes.

What is the long term goal/vision of Soiled Diapers?

Our long-term goal is to be in every major city in North America, supported by municipal authorities to help with waste diversion initiatives. Diapers make up approximately 3% of all North American waste, and with the move to reduce waste in any way possible, we provide a significant service. As diapers make up the 3rd largest consumer item in the landfill (food/beverage containers are #1), imagine reducing our waste by 200 million tons just by removing one single item! In the future we will offer services and accept the other materials mentioned previously. We want to work with the farming community to get this compost approved for food growth so that we can help replenish top soil erosion and create vertical garden growing mediums.

What exciting things are coming up in the future?

At the moment we are only operating in Calgary and area, but we would like to expand to other areas of the province, and country. If there are communities, towns, cities, etc that would be interested in having our services available in their local area, we would be happy to work together towards expanding. Interested parties can contact me directly via email or phone. Also, SDC is working closely with Always Environmental (compost equipment manufacturer) to develop a smaller model so that processing can begin quicker. A prototype has been nearly completed and testing should be complete with the next year.

A big thanks to Mark for chatting with me. If you’d like to learn more about Soiled Diapers, diaper composting, their process, and pricing you can check out their website here.