Paper, glass, plastic, even concrete: many materials are now recycled. For diapers, on the other hand, this is still almost impossible. Worldwide, less than one percent of all diapers are recycled – and this is despite the fact that diapers make up around ten percent of household waste (in care homes, this figure can rise to 70 percent). The challenge is separating the cellulose in the diapers from the superabsorbent material that absorbs the liquid. A team of researchers led by Dr. Anne Zeck, group leader at the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute in Reutlingen, has now achieved a breakthrough with the help of enzymes as part of the Invest BW project Encycling.