---
title: "The Dutch Built a Cycle Lane from Used Toilet Paper"
description: "Two Dutch companies have developed a way of treating used toilet paper to become a material that can be used to build roads."
date: "2017-10-18"
modified: "2017-10-18"
authors:
  - name: "Alex Gray"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/alex-gray"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-dutch-built-a-cycle-lane-from-used-toilet-paper"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "cellulose"
  - "recycling"
  - "waste treatment"
---

# The Dutch Built a Cycle Lane from Used Toilet Paper

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Bicycle-highway-in-the-Netherlands-was-built-using-recycled-toilet-paper.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="http://www.knnadvies.nl/pages/cellulose/knn_cellulose/" target="\_blank"\>CirTec\</a\>\</em\>*

## Turning toilet paper into asphalt

Can you imagine cycling on a road made from used toilet paper? The Dutch – known for their love of two-wheeled transport – are doing just that, thanks to an innovative waste recycling scheme.

![ ](<https://assets.weforum.org/editor/-akoGes9QjzlrLlXVosQF85sQ1hV16rYXwFD5PgqYYU.jpg>)
*Image: Friesland*

The Dutch reportedly use around 180,000 tons of toilet paper every year. Two Dutch companies – CirTec and KNN Cellulose – have[ developed the technology](<http://www.cirtec.nl/en/gebruikt-toiletpapier-krijgt-tweede-leven/>) to turn that waste into a road-building material.

It’s being tested in the Dutch province of Friesland on a [1 km stretch of the bike path](<https://www.citylab.com/environment/2017/09/bike-path-recycled-toilet-paper-netherlands/541326/>) that connects the Frisian capital of Leeuwarden to the town of Stiens.

## How does it work?

Cellulose is the main ingredient in paper, but the plant-based fiber has many other industrial uses too.

The toilet paper flushes through to a waste treatment plant where it is filtered out, cleaned and sterilized at very high temperatures. The end result is a fluffy material or pellet that can be used in asphalt.

![ ](<https://assets.weforum.org/editor/NjtA-KxEmi3dR6uPWhPES5g4rEhVOlrdSzr32FDDVe0.jpg>)
*Image: CirTec*

It can also be used for bioplastics and building materials. Much of the toilet paper in the Netherlands is high quality, which means that it is high in cellulose, resulting in [a better end-product](<http://www.cirtec.nl/en/interview-with-bbc-world-news/>).

Treated in the normal way, the toilet paper would remain in the sludge and be burned at the waste treatment plant.

## Scaling up

It’s a cost-effective business model, claims the company. Carlijn Lahaye, CirTec’s Managing Director, told the BBC: “You remove something that is a burden in the waste treatment process plus you turn it into a high-value product that you can sell.”

The company says it is recovering about 400 kg of cellulose a day. Some of this is exported to England where it is used as a raw material to [produce bio-composite](<http://www.cirtec.nl/en/gebruikt-toiletpapier-krijgt-tweede-leven/>). The remaining cellulose is used for the production and development of other products.

The challenge will be in scaling up the model, but the company is upbeat: it claims to be talking to other customers in order to apply the technology on a larger scale.

There is the obvious “yuk” factor in cycling on a road made from used toilet paper, but local residents don’t seem too concerned:

“It’s a strange idea for people that there’s \[toilet paper\] in the road,” [says Michiel Schrier, provincial governor of Friesland](<https://www.citylab.com/environment/2017/09/bike-path-recycled-toilet-paper-netherlands/541326/>). “But when they cycle on it or feel it, they can see that it’s normal asphalt.”