A new research hub will explore golden opportunities to develop liquid fertiliser products from recycled human urine waste.
The $3.8 million Australian Research Council Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy (NiCE) is set to transform the wastewater industry by commercialising membrane technologies and new liquid fertilisers.
“With prices of fertiliser skyrocketing around the world, we need new environmentally sustainable products to help our horticultural industries,” says Professor Hokyong Shon, NiCE Hub Director and Deputy Director of the UTS Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater.
“For the first time in Australia, our research hub will take a holistic approach to tackling the challenges of creating a working circular economy that treats urine as a valuable source of nutrients rather than a waste by-product.”
We can stop flushing away a valuable resource and instead use it to grow opportunities for food production on our farms and in our gardens
- Professor Hokyong Shon
The NiCE Hub has successfully developed two new fertiliser products, UrVAL and UGOLD, both of which use cutting-edge technologies to process urine into valuable horticultural resources.
Fifteen research projects have commenced through the NiCE Hub including the investigation of membrane technologies, industrial waste treatment, bathroom design, fertiliser field demonstrations, economics, public perception and consumer research.
It involves seven partner universities, 22 commercial and government partners and three international collaborators.
“By working together, we’re using cutting-edge technology to demonstrate how we can stop flushing away a valuable resource and instead use it to grow opportunities for food production on our farms and in our gardens,” Professor Shon says.
The NiCE Hub was launched today by Assistant Minister for Education, The Hon Anthony Chisholm, at an event featuring government and industry stakeholders.