Expanding urine recycling

[January 2023 – June 2028]

The historical “metabolic rift”— the separation of cities and their “waste” from farms—created a linear approach to managing human waste, resulting in a cascade of mounting environmental, social, and economic side effects. Funded by the USDA, NSF, Graham Sustainability Center, and UM’s OVPR – Lesli Hoey (Taubman College), Nancy Love (Engineering), and Jennifer Blesh (SEAS) and a larger team of partners have been examining the agronomic, engineering and regulatory systems needed to expand “urine recycling”, one approach to circular economies that is (re)gaining ground in Europe, but which is underutilized in the United States. Urine recycling could revolutionize wastewater treatment systems that are aging, overburdened, costly, energy-intensive and inefficient at recovering nutrients – which are also straining housing in many cities and towns and rural areas that rely on septic systems –  while lowering dependence on concentrated and unreliable global fertilizer supply chains, reducing associated greenhouse gas emissions, and creating local jobs.

[WASTE STREAM ECONOMIES]

Project collaborators include:

• Nancy Love – University of Michigan, Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Jennifer Blesh – University of Michigan, School for Environment & Sustainability