Ingenious canine homeowners usually counsel that watered-down pet pee can act as fertilizer to create lush inexperienced lawns. France’s Toopi Organics has gone a step additional. It has turned to human urine to exchange the extreme use of chemical fertilizers in crops, which have been linked to damaging results on biodiversity, the environment and our well being.
Toopi’s reply is what it claims to be the world’s first urine-sourced biostimulant that acts as a fertilizer for agriculture, made utilizing a singular patented fermentation course of.
CEO Alexandra Carpentier stated: “Recycling urine might save the world. Through the use of urine as a rising medium to supply biofertilizers, Toopi Organics addresses the pressing problems with local weather change, biodiversity loss and shutting the loop on the vitamins cycle.”
The corporate first collects urine from locations “the place folks pee so much” like fuel stations, faculties and music festivals, all inside a detailed radius of its plant close to Bordeaux. When there, it’s put into biofermentators the place it’s used as a progress medium. The completed product, obtained after just a few days of fermentation, is micro organism concentrated in a liquid that may be unfold instantly on the bottom. In addition to being a wonderful tradition medium for microorganisms, human urine is wealthy in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients, which give fertilizer to the soil.
Produced in a round financial system from an inexhaustible useful resource
Toopi Organics has scientifically demonstrated the worth of utilizing urine as a whole fermentative medium to supply microbial biosolutions. Naturally wealthy in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and progress elements, urine performs a nutritive position within the manufacturing of microbial biomass of agronomic curiosity.
“We do not use urine as a fertilizer,” Carpentier harassed to FoodNavigator. “We use it as progress medium for micro-organisms of agronomic curiosity. That implies that these micro-organisms will make the nitrogen, the phosphorus, the vitamins which are naturally current within the surroundings however in types that the crops cannot catch. Our micro-organisms make these vitamins accessible for crops.” Lower than 25l of the biostimulant can enhance plant diet by as much as 50%, the corporate claims.
It’s a waste-free course of, she added. “One litre of urine makes one litre of product and we are able to produce 250,000 litres of the biostimulant per 12 months. We accumulate as a lot as we have to produce. We might accumulate way over we’d like for our manufacturing.”
Turning human urine right into a sustainable useful resource for agriculture
Human urine is an infinite useful resource, in any case. The European inhabitants discharges 240 billion liters of urine per 12 months.
Based on the corporate, the spreading of urine-based biostimulants might make it doable to halve using phosphate fertilizers. The carbon footprint of 1 litre of the biostimulant in the meantime represents solely 0.08 keq.CO2, in different phrases 50 to 150 instances lower than 1 kg of mineral fertilizer.
The method can also be inexpensive than the chemical inputs at present utilized in agriculture. “Our patented resolution gives decrease costs to farmers,” claimed the CEO. “When one farmer replaces half of their chemical fertilizers and makes use of our product as a substitute, they may hold the identical yield and save 37% of prices for corn, for instance.”
The corporate additional claims that round 30 trials in experimental plots and in actual subject circumstances have demonstrated the advantages of its biostimulant on the assimilation of mineral parts current in soils, specifically phosphorus, which permits for much less dependence on artificial mineral fertilizers whereas preserving the potential of crops and soil life.
“The thought of utilizing urine as a fertilizer shouldn’t be new, however our concept is completely revolutionary,” added Founding father of Toopi Organics Michael Roes. “Urine is not used as a fertilizer, however as a tradition medium for microorganisms that enhance the crops’ capability to soak up vitamins naturally current in nature.”
Its first product, Lactopi StartTM, is being marketed in France following advertising approval from ANSES and authorizations issued in 5 different European international locations: Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. It’s awaiting approval in German and the UK.
Its growth plans will probably be helped after it was not too long ago was chosen by start-up accelerator EIT Meals as one of many winners of Europe’s most promising and revolutionary agri-food start-ups.
“The EIT Meals recognition provides us entry to vital recommendation on the right way to pitch for funding and provides us entry to potential traders and partnerships for the chance to supply options to the entire world, beginning with Europe,” added Carpentier.
The product has been examined on 10 completely different crops and it has been tailored to many alternative local weather circumstances, she additional revealed. “I believe it is a genius concept. I wasn’t’ my concept so i can say that. This could clear up 6 out of the ten planetary boundaries together with the local weather disaster, biodiversity loss and nitrogen cycle.”
The crew is eying utilizing the method to sooner or later make different merchandise. “We might assist create something that wants microorganisms, for instance, meals colourings, lactic acid, protein for animal feed and even lab-grown meat.”
