Unicharm has partnered with Havix Corporation to commercialize processing technology that can create the absorbent material used in adult incontinence products from recycled pulp culled from used diaper materials. Havix will begin making nonwovens using the recycled pulp in January 2024, the company has announced.
 
Unicharm first developed the recycling technology through its RefF (Recycle for the Future) project, started in 2015, aimed at recycling absorbent products.  Through the use of ozone-based sterilization technology, the company successfully generated recycled pulp that is hygienic and safe and equivalent in quality to unused pulp. In 2022, Unicharm used this recycled pulp for the absorbent layer in its Lifree adult diaper brand and began testing these products in long term care facilities in the South Kyushu, Japan region. Care faciliites have reported that the pants perform similarly to products made from virgin pulp.
 
The success of this pilot program led Unicharm to seek a partner in Havix, a manufacturer of airlaid and thermal bonded nonwovens as well as absorbent core materials, to manufacture absorbent materials using the recycled pulp.