Article: For disposable diapers, the future is green: in a unique project called WooDi, Sodra Cell, SCA and Chalmers University have joined forces to produce a diaper that could one day be made entirely of wood-based fibers.

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In the European Union alone, the baby diaper market was valued at around 4.45 billion [euro] in 2006, up from just under 3.7 billion [euro] in 1997, and the market is still growing. Producers have responded in recent years to demands from environmental groups and customers for a reduction in the weight in diapers and change in composition to make them more ecofriendly. The average diaper weighed 64.2 grams in 1987 compared with 40.4 grams in 2005. Fluff pulp content has fallen from 52.8 grams to 14.1 grams of the total, while superabsorbers have risen to more than 13 grams from 0.7 grams in the 1980s. Polypropylene nonwovens now represent ...

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