BY the time seven-month-old Jacob Lowry learns to use a potty, he will be responsible for more than 800 kg of the 111,200 tonnes of disposable nappies that fill Australian tips every year. Astounded by the statistic, Jacob‘‘s mother, Australian singer Marina Prior, has become the face of the nation‘‘s first nappy recycling service, according to a report in The Australian. "As every busy mother knows, cloth nappies are not really an option in this country today," Ms Prior, 40, said at the opening of the recycling service in Melbourne‘‘s southeast yesterday. "I don‘‘t want to stop using disposable nappies, but I want to have a better conscience about using them."

Under the scheme, expected to expand nationally after its initial launch in five Melbourne council areas, disposable nappies will be picked up fortnightly, then shredded and sanitised before being separated into plastic and wood pulp.

The recycled plastic is to be sold for use in outdoor furniture, signage and jetty planks, while the fibrous pulp can be turned into paper products. The smelly stuff is thrown away, although MyPlanet Recycling - the company behind the scheme - is looking into reusing even that for composting into fertiliser.

With just one in 10 babies using cloth nappies, Australian families throw out about 800 million disposables a year - enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground three times over. For just A$7.60 a fortnight, parents will be able to buy guilt-free convenience. With a capacity of 4,000 tonnes a year, the recycling plant will barely make a dent in the mountains of nappies sent to landfill.

In The Netherlands, a plant that opened in 1999 using the same technology now recycles up to 100,000 tonnes of nappies annually. Labor MP and former aerial skier Kirstie Marshall, who spent more than a decade in Europe, said Australia lagged behind Europe in its commitment to recycling. It was heartening a nappy recycling service was now seen as viable, she said.

Ms Marshall, who caused a stir by breastfeeding her daughter in the Victorian parliament, said she was shocked to learn the 72 nappies her 18-month-old Charlotte went through each fortnight would take about 500 years to break down. She welcomed the new service. "Hopefully, it‘‘s something a lot more people, when faced with those enormous facts, will get behind,"