This eco-friendly machine will recycle all your baby's dirty nappies

Across the world millions and millions of dirty nappies end up in landfill sites every year. And while they are a necessity when caring for a baby, the sheer volume of them ending up in dumps or being incinerated is shocking.

They take up to 500 years to decompose and, not surprisingly, are having a huge harmful effect on our environment.

Thankfully, scientists at Chung Hua University, Taiwan have come up with a solution to deal with the huge waste. 

Sz-Chwun John Hwang and his team have have created a machine that can turn 220 lbs of dirty, used nappies into clean material in an hour.

The prototype cleans and sanitises the dirty nappies on site and then separates the material – the fluff fibre, the polyacrylate salt and the PE pellets – in a process known as stratification. 

The reusable material is then taken to a recycling centre where it is turned into absorbent pads, paper and even more diapers. 

According to Inhabitat, the process involves using less water than a toilet, which can then be recycled on site. 

When you think about how much waste is created from just one nappy, it's fantastic to see progress being made in terms of recycling the material. 

The video below created by Sz-Chwun John Hwang will explain how it works. 

Used Diaper from Sz-Chwun Hwang on Vimeo.