The streets are paved with… nappies?

The old saying goes that the streets are paved with gold, which means there’s an opportunity to be had…

But what if they’re paved with nappies?

Joking aside, one hundred thousand nappies have helped to pave a road in Wales.

Yep, they’ve been recycled and melted into the road mix thanks to an innovative approach to sustainability.

Once a nappy has been, ahem, used, it’s disposed of in a special bin that’s collected on bin day and taken to a recycling centre where they’re all cleaned and melted down.

CLICK HERE to read about how a road in Wales has been paved with nappies

There’s a million jokes we could make here, but we won’t stoop to that level…

Long story short, the material used in nappies shares similar chemical properties to bitumen (a type of plastic), which is used to bind hot tar and gravel.

And plastic presents a BIG problem for sustainability and the environment, as we all know.

The thing is, there’s A LOT of nappies that end up in landfills every year, so it’s a bit of two birds, one stone situation.

In fact, in Wales alone, babies get through 140 million disposable nappies every year, so there’s plenty of material available.

Oh, and the roads that are infused with plastic (or nappies) tend to last a whole lot longer, which is great for sustainability AND safety.

So, the next time you’re driving along a freshly tarmacked road, just thank the babies for the smooth journey.