British tampons and nappies set to fuel power stations

New scheme aims to tackle one the UK's trickiest disposal issues by turning thousands of tonnes of hygiene products into burnable bales

One of the UK's trickiest waste problems is being tackled by turning the undesirable into the combustible - tampons and incontinence pads are being converted into dry, burnable bales. The new initiative, from a major waste company, compresses the waste into fuel for power stations.

Huge volumes of what are known in the trade as "absorbent hygiene products" are produced in the UK. But it is difficult to deal with as its dampness makes incineration expensive. Dumping the waste in landfill is the other current option, but the material takes decades to degrade and heavy and rising landfill taxes are aiming to end the practice.