Nicola Parfitt
Market Developer
Sanitation360 AB
Sweden
Nicoal@sanitation360.se
Jenna Senecal CEO
Sanitation360 AB
Sweden
Researcher
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Sweden
Jenna@sanitation360.se
Prithvi Simha
CTO
Sanitation360 AB
Sweden
Researcher
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Sweden
Prithvi.simha@slu.se
Björn Vinnerås
Chair
Sanitation360 AB
Sweden
Professor
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Sweden
Bjorn.vinneras@slu.se
Each of us produces, on average, 1.5 liters of urine every day. Remarkably, the nutrients in this urine are enough to fertilize 500 g of wheat grain—sufficient to bake a loaf of bread. But instead of treating urine as a valuable resource, we dispose of it as waste.
Why urine?
Nutrient runoff from farms is often blamed for polluting waterways, fueling algal blooms like those in the Baltic Sea. But agriculture isn’t the only source of the problem—our own bathrooms play a significant role.
In Sweden, even with some of the world's most advanced wastewater treatment plants, a third of all nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in surface waters comes from human waste. With every flush, valuable nutrients are lost, turning a potential resource into a pollutant.
What’s going on?
When we flush, urine, which is rich in nutrients, gets mixed with the rest of our household wastewater. While urine makes up only 1.5 liters of the 170 liters of wastewater each person produces daily, it carries the majority of the nitrogen and phosphorus. By the time urine reaches a municipal wastewater treatment plant,removing these nutrients from water becomes incredibly complex and inefficient, requiring large infrastructure, chemicals and energy. Which is partially why treatment plants are only required to remove about 70% of these nutrients, with the rest released into surface waters—fueling algal blooms.
What can we do?
At Sanitation 360, we have developed an innovative solution to capture all the nutrients in urine and transform them into a concentrated, solid fertilizer compatible with modern farming equipment.
For the past 5 years, we have been demonstrating the paradigm shift in how urine should be managed. Through partnerships with key stakeholders, we have collected over 25,000 L of urine, processed it into fertilizer, and supplied it to barley farmers who have confirmed that our bio-based fertiliser performs just as well as synthetic fertilisers. The harvested barley has then been brewed and beer quality tested by Gotlands Bryggeri as part of our P2GreeN project. This collaboration showcases a true farm-to-fork-to-farm cycle—where nutrients are returned to the soil instead of being lost as waste.
We are currently developing three urine treatment systems targeting different customer needs: 1) Indoor Household-scale system (15 L per day treatment) – Ideal for properties with on-site sanitation, offering a quick return on investment by reducing wastewater management costs and providing a local source of fertiliser; 2) Passive solar drying outdoor system (10 L per day treatment) – designed for seasonal use or regions with warmer and sunnier climates, making it a low-energy, sustainable solution; and 3) Large-scale system (200 L per day treatment) – Suitable for high-traffic locations such as football arenas, where large volumes of urine are collected in one place.
Stakeholders, including municipalities and private companies, see the potential of our technology to reduce environmental impact and and ease pressure on wastewater infrastructure.For example, we have an installation at the head office of VA Syd in Malmö as part of our REWAISE project. VA Syd is a water and wastewater utility that is keen to scale up our system. Across Europe, many wastewater treatment plants are either at or reaching capacity, limiting their ability to handle wastewater from new urban developments. Our solution offers a decentralized alternative, helping to extend the lifespan of existing wastewater treatment plants.Similarly, the City of Stockholm is interested in our technology as it spends over 1 million SEK annually on imported fertilizer for its green spaces, while at the same time, urine, a rich source of nutrients is being flushed away.
With the new CiNURGi project, we are now in the planning phase for our first permanent large-scale installation, a 3 million SEK project that represents a major step towards mainstream adoption of urine recycling.
By rethinking how we handle urine, we can transform waste into a resource, closing nutrient loops and building a more sustainable future.
Why urine?
Nutrient runoff from farms is often blamed for polluting waterways, fueling algal blooms like those in the Baltic Sea. But agriculture isn’t the only source of the problem—our own bathrooms play a significant role.
In Sweden, even with some of the world's most advanced wastewater treatment plants, a third of all nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in surface waters comes from human waste. With every flush, valuable nutrients are lost, turning a potential resource into a pollutant.
What’s going on?
When we flush, urine, which is rich in nutrients, gets mixed with the rest of our household wastewater. While urine makes up only 1.5 liters of the 170 liters of wastewater each person produces daily, it carries the majority of the nitrogen and phosphorus. By the time urine reaches a municipal wastewater treatment plant,removing these nutrients from water becomes incredibly complex and inefficient, requiring large infrastructure, chemicals and energy. Which is partially why treatment plants are only required to remove about 70% of these nutrients, with the rest released into surface waters—fueling algal blooms.
What can we do?
At Sanitation 360, we have developed an innovative solution to capture all the nutrients in urine and transform them into a concentrated, solid fertilizer compatible with modern farming equipment.
For the past 5 years, we have been demonstrating the paradigm shift in how urine should be managed. Through partnerships with key stakeholders, we have collected over 25,000 L of urine, processed it into fertilizer, and supplied it to barley farmers who have confirmed that our bio-based fertiliser performs just as well as synthetic fertilisers. The harvested barley has then been brewed and beer quality tested by Gotlands Bryggeri as part of our P2GreeN project. This collaboration showcases a true farm-to-fork-to-farm cycle—where nutrients are returned to the soil instead of being lost as waste.
We are currently developing three urine treatment systems targeting different customer needs: 1) Indoor Household-scale system (15 L per day treatment) – Ideal for properties with on-site sanitation, offering a quick return on investment by reducing wastewater management costs and providing a local source of fertiliser; 2) Passive solar drying outdoor system (10 L per day treatment) – designed for seasonal use or regions with warmer and sunnier climates, making it a low-energy, sustainable solution; and 3) Large-scale system (200 L per day treatment) – Suitable for high-traffic locations such as football arenas, where large volumes of urine are collected in one place.
Stakeholders, including municipalities and private companies, see the potential of our technology to reduce environmental impact and and ease pressure on wastewater infrastructure.For example, we have an installation at the head office of VA Syd in Malmö as part of our REWAISE project. VA Syd is a water and wastewater utility that is keen to scale up our system. Across Europe, many wastewater treatment plants are either at or reaching capacity, limiting their ability to handle wastewater from new urban developments. Our solution offers a decentralized alternative, helping to extend the lifespan of existing wastewater treatment plants.Similarly, the City of Stockholm is interested in our technology as it spends over 1 million SEK annually on imported fertilizer for its green spaces, while at the same time, urine, a rich source of nutrients is being flushed away.
With the new CiNURGi project, we are now in the planning phase for our first permanent large-scale installation, a 3 million SEK project that represents a major step towards mainstream adoption of urine recycling.
By rethinking how we handle urine, we can transform waste into a resource, closing nutrient loops and building a more sustainable future.