Making diapers circular
Our mission
It's a bit of a shitty situation. While we care for babies, we damage the environment with the mountain of diaper waste we leave behind. With up to 4,800 diapers per toilet-trained baby (Cabrera and Garcia, 2019), we could easily create a few Mont Blancs of diaper waste on Earth.
The alternatives to disposable diapers are often not practical and require a lot of time and energy. That is why Woosh's mission is to save disposable diapers from the landfill, without child care workers and parents having to change anything about their habits. This is how we ensure happy baby bottoms and a cleaner planet. How good is that?
MAKing SLIDES CIRCULAR
Woosh wants to make disposable diapers circular. Because our responsibility does not stop with offering the diaper. We are convinced that it is not the disposable diaper that is the problem, but rather what happens to it after use.
Today, used diapers still end up as residual waste. This causes valuable materials to be lost, and worse, they are burned! This causes unnecessary CO 2 emissions: on the one hand for reproducing these materials, and on the other hand by burning the waste. If we want to keep global warming under control, this is not sustainable.
Woosh is determined to change this! We want to recover and recycle these materials. That is why we collect the diapers after use and process them in a sustainable way. And thus we close the chain!
Did you know...
…approximately 33 billion disposable diapers are used per year in Europe alone, accounting for approximately 6.7 million tons of waste? (Cabrera and Garcia, 2019)
…the share of used diapers in Belgium accounts for 7.5% of residual waste every year? (OVAM, 2022)
how we realize our mission
The Woosh diaper was specially designed for optimal recycling and is the first diaper to use 100% recycled plastic, both in the packaging and in the diaper. And that is unique!
Not only do we deliver the Woosh diapers to childcare, we also collect the used diapers at the same time. This creates a source-separated waste stream that allows us to process the diapers sustainably.
Diapers contain materials that can be perfectly recycled and reused in our economy. Because waste is only waste if we waste it. We will therefore start recycling our diapers from autumn 2024. We developed a unique recycling process for this, tailored to our diaper.
FOCUS ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
To achieve our mission, we are strongly focused on research and development. Our R&D team is continuously looking for new and innovative solutions to realize the reuse of materials from diapers.
An important step in this regard is the construction of our own recycling and R&D center in Bruges soon. The very first in Belgium! Want to read more about this milestone? Click here.
important milestones
JANUARY 2021
Origin of Woosh
MARCH 2021
Launch of R&D program on logistics solutions and diaper recycling technologies
JUNE 2021
Already 1,000 children use the Woosh service every day
DECEMBER 2022
Woosh serves 10,000 children every day from 4 logistics depots: Ghent, Antwerp, Hasselt and Leuven
JANUARY 2023
Start-up recycling program with its own process tailored to our diaper
MAY 2023
Woosh is active throughout Belgium
AUGUST 2023
Partnership with IVBO Bruges
APRIL 2024
Launch of new Woosh diaper
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
JOIN OUR MISSION!
Become a Wooshie and support the path to a sustainable future for our children. Together we build a more beautiful planet with less waste and less CO 2 emissions!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are currently no diaper recycling facilities in Belgium because there is no separate waste stream for used diapers. Woosh is changing that! By collecting diaper waste from daycare centers, we create a separate waste stream and make diaper recycling possible.
In the summer of 2024, we will start building our own recycling and R&D center in Bruges, which will be operational from the autumn of 2024. A major milestone in realizing our mission!
The Flemish government is considering making diaper recycling mandatory. The Woosh project is already receiving support from OVAM as a pilot project to evaluate this 'recycling (r)evolution'.