Cut the crap about crap 

One example is the Ugandan company ‘Proteen’, which recycles free bio-waste from local food markets in the capital Kampala. To prevent this valuable waste  from going to waste, Proteen feeds the bio-leftovers to Black Soldier Fly larvae – insects that are incredibly efficient in converting organic matter into harvestable protein. After a few days of feasting on the rubbish, the larvae are dried and processed into high-quality protein feed for livestock. And the ‘waste’ of the larvae themselves? Consider this your highly organic fertiliser!

It isn’t just larvae that produce fertiliser from their behinds (yes, they have one). The value of our human faeces and its potential contribution to our soils is clear. Scientific research shows that The Netherlands alone flushes a valuable 35 million kilos of phosphate, 110 million kilos of nitrogen, and 34.5 million kilos of potassium straight down the toilet each year. Almost all the nutrients in our stool come from food grown on farms. Instead of closing the circle by returning it to the farm soil, our waste goes to waste in the sewage system. We close the resulting nutrient gap with animal manure and inorganic fertilisers. For the latter, we buy potassium from Russia, phosphate from Morocco, and retrieve nitrogen from the air using enormous amounts of fossil energy.

Dutch company Broodje Poep (Shit Sandwich) wants to reuse our ‘shit’ to close the nutrient cycle. With their motto ‘shit is priceless’, they appear at festivals and events to raise awareness of the value we flush through the toilet daily. They use human excrement to fertilise their farm. The products from their farm end up as ingredients sold in a tasty sandwich from their food truck. And if a customer is generous enough to donate their poop on the spot? They get a discount on their order!

Broodje Poep likes to think big: what if we can transform the toilet design of entire neighbourhoods or cities to collect and recycle all this valuable stuff? They have made a start in the self-autonomous communities of Creabitat. There, Broodje Poep will play its part in creating a new system for processing the residents’ golden waste – so the nutrients will end up right back on their plates.