VunaNexus, a Swiss startup, captures and processes human urine at the European Space Agency's Paris headquarters to produce natural fertiliser. The company diverts urine from toilets rather than sending it through conventional sewage systems, then extracts nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for agricultural use.

CEO David de Chambrier frames the operation as an industrial nutrient recovery process, not environmental activism. The company treats urine collection similarly to mineral extraction from electronic waste. A single person produces roughly 500 liters of urine annually, containing approximately 11 kilograms of nitrogen and smaller quantities of phosphorus and potassium. VunaNexus stabilizes and concentrates these nutrients into marketable fertiliser products.

The timing matters. Recent geopolitical conflicts have disrupted global fertiliser supplies. Russia and Belarus, major exporters of potassium and nitrogen compounds, face sanctions that have strained agricultural markets worldwide. Food security depends heavily on synthetic fertiliser availability. Alternative nutrient sources gain traction when conventional supply chains fracture.

Urine-based fertiliser production addresses two overlapping problems. Conventional sewage treatment removes nutrients from wastewater only to lose them. Meanwhile, synthetic fertiliser production consumes significant energy and relies on concentrated mineral reserves. Recovering nutrients from human waste reduces both extraction pressure and treatment costs.

The technology itself remains simple. Urine-diverting toilets separate liquid waste at the source. Processing facilities then concentrate and stabilize the nutrient solution through chemical or biological methods. The resulting product contains usable nitrogen and minerals in forms crops can absorb.

VunaNexus operates at a pilot scale but targets broader deployment. European wastewater treatment facilities increasingly explore nutrient recovery. The Netherlands and Scandinavia lead regulatory frameworks for processed urine as fertiliser. Germany permits sale of urine-derived nutrients under strict quality standards