Glastonbury pee to help research into bio-fertiliser

NPK Recovery, a company that recovers nutrients from human urine to create a novel, bio-based fertiliser will be deploying its technology at Glastonbury this week in partnership with Peequal, a chemical-free female urinal company. The Bristol start-ups, which are also working with the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, are using Glastonbury as one of a network of UK festivals this year to source their waste feedstock.
Last year, farmers averaged a consumption of 1,500,000 tonnes of manufactured fertiliser per year. These manufactured fertilisers rely on highly energy-intensive processes to extract critical nutrients, like nitrogen.Â
Replacing even a small proportion of synthetic fertilisers for a natural and sustainable alternative could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from production and freight.
According to a report in The Times, Peequal will collect thousands of litres of revellers’ waste at Glastonbury and deliver it to the NPK Recovery lab at Future Space in Bristol. The byproduct will then be profiled with the help of experts from the University of the West of England, processed, and used to grow crops in the start-up’s greenhouse.