Innovative project uses surprising material to produce essential household product: 'Please support'

One company is making toilet paper out of a highly unexpected material, according to Good Good Good.

Two communities in Japan — Shibushi and Osaki — have partnered with local recycler Poppy Paper to make toilet paper out of used diapers.

As surprising as the material choice may be, it seems to be working well. The diapers are sterilized, deodorized, bleached, and shredded before going to Poppy Paper to be mixed with recycled paper.

The project is using 98 tons of gathered diapers and other used hygiene products. In the first two months, 300,000 Shibushi Osaki Rolls have been made, selling for $2.70 USD per dozen.

Diapers are a major landfill issue. More than 300,000 are sent to landfills or incinerated every minute, along with the significant amount of plastic they contain. This makes diapers the third-most commonly disposed-of item in landfills, according to one estimate. Some people have even resorted to illegal dumping to deal with diaper waste.

Although diapers may seem like an unavoidable environmental cost, services are available to manage them in an ecologically friendly way. Some companies are turning them into biochar. Others are using them as concrete aggregate.

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A lot of work is being done elsewhere to make toilet paper more sustainable. Fast-growing bamboo is an increasingly popular material source. Bidets are gaining traction in North America to reduce or eliminate toilet paper use.

All the partners working on this project in Japan were optimistic about its success.

"Please support this eco-friendly product, which aims to promote a sustainable society by reusing local resources," said Takumi Obo, an Osaki spokesperson, per The Mainichi.

"This initiative could help diversify the ways to secure raw materials, especially as used paper supplies are expected to decline with the rise of paperless systems and a shrinking population," said Poppy Paper's Satoshi Yoshida.