Woosh, a Belgium-based circular diaper brand, Borouge, a global leader in polyolefin solutions, and BlueAlp, a leading chemical recycling player, have collaborated to close the loop on diaper plastics.

Together, the companies have demonstrated that plastics from used baby diapers can be recovered and chemically recycled into feedstock for new polymers. For the first time, this circular loop has been demonstrated at industrial scale in Europe, opening a credible, scalable pathway for one of the continent’s most challenging waste streams.

*Read similar recycling project: Recycling production waste from diaper manufacturing

A value chain approach to a complex waste stream

The achievement builds on Woosh’s closed-loop ecosystem for diapers. The Woosh give-back diaper is optimized for recycling. Woosh supplies these diapers to childcare facilities and households and collects them again after use, creating a separate, traceable stream of used diapers for recycling.

This dedicated waste stream forms the basis for further processing. Borouge International and BlueAlp worked with Woosh engineers to define the quality requirements the recovered plastic needed to meet to be used as input for BlueAlp’s chemical recycling technology.

At chemical recycler BlueAlp, plastic from Woosh baby diapers is converted into a circular feedstock for new polymers.

Woosh then optimized their proprietary mechanical separation process to produce plastic fractions that meet these requirements.

The first industrial scale recycling runs were carried out at BlueAlp’s plant in Oostende, Belgium. The recovered plastic fractions were processed using BlueAlp’s pyrolysis technology, which converts them into a liquid hydrocarbon known as pyrolysis oil.

This pyrolysis oil is ISCC PLUS-certified and meets the required quality specifications for further processing into new polymers, including those suitable for new diaper production.

Real-life, scaled circular pathway

Woosh is already scaling its model. The company currently supplies and collects diapers across Belgium, with over 30,000 children using the Woosh give-back diaper system each day.

Its diaper recycling plant, launched in 2025, processes thousands of metric tons of used diapers per year. In the near future, its operations are set to expand into France and the Netherlands, increasing the volume of recovered plastic available for recycling.

Across Europe, large volumes of absorbent hygiene products still follow a linear path to incineration or landfill. This collaboration is a meaningful proof of concept for circularity in the sector, demonstrating that even the most challenging waste streams can be brought back into use when the entire system is carefully designed to work together.