Urine-Derived Fertiliser Aurin Gains Traction Amid Global Fertiliser Crisis

The European Space Agency’s Paris headquarters now routes staff urine through specialised, urine-diverting toilets to a basement treatment plant. The system also operates in several commercial and residential buildings, including one of Switzerland’s largest private banks in Geneva, where it processes roughly 3 million litres of urine annually.

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Separated urine bypasses the water-flushing stream and enters a series of tanks that remove micropollutants (e.g., antibiotics) and concentrate nitrogen and phosphorus. The liquid is pasteurised at 90 °C, after which distilled water is returned to the flushing system and the remaining concentrate is sold as the liquid fertiliser Aurin. Swiss and French authorities have certified Aurin as the only mineral fertiliser made entirely from human urine and approved it for use on all plant types.

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Producing one kilogram of nitrogen from urine currently costs 40–50 times more than synthetic fertiliser. VunaNexus estimates that recycling all European urine could meet about 30 % of the continent’s nitrogen demand, but the technology alone cannot overhaul the fertiliser market. The company aims to become financially viable by charging for the wastewater-treatment service in addition to fertiliser sales.

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The 2022-2023 Russia-Ukraine conflict disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly  1/3  of global raw fertiliser material and  1/5  of liquefied fossil gas used in fertiliser production. The United Nations warned that 45 million people face acute hunger as soaring fertiliser prices threaten food security in the world’s poorest regions.

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Swiss and French regulatory bodies have formally approved Aurin for agricultural use. The UN’s statement on rising hunger risk underscores the broader urgency of diversifying fertiliser sources.

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Industry analysts highlight the high production cost and the need for large-scale economies of-scale to achieve competitiveness. Researchers and policymakers also call for rigorous safety validation before wider adoption by governments and farmers.

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In Durban, an old water-treatment plant is being refurbished to process urine collected from low-tech street-level urinals installed in a central market district. NGO Asiye eTafuleni co-founder Richard Dobson describes the initiative as turning a “public nuisance into an urban good” and creating a “closed loop” that could benefit street-vendor livelihoods and local vegetable growers. University of Surrey researcher Maano Tshimange is testing an energy-efficient membrane concentration technique, emphasizing the need to convince stakeholders of the technology’s safety.

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Sources differ on the economic outlook: while the cost per kilogram of nitrogen is cited as 40–50 times higher than synthetic alternatives, no data are provided on projected cost reductions at commercial scale. Additionally, the estimate that recycled urine could supply 30 % of Europe’s nitrogen need lacks corroborating calculations, and long-term environmental impact assessments remain absent.

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• “Urine is a very concentrated resource. This is not a hippy thing to do; we are recycling minerals,” — David de Chambrier, CEO, VunaNexus

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• “If we were to recycle all the urine of people in Europe, I think we could cover around 30% of the nitrogen need,” — David de Chambrier, CEO, VunaNexus

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• “We need to reconceive what is deemed waste and how you can turn a public nuisance into an urban good.” — Richard Dobson, Co-founder, Asiye eTafuleni

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• “I still believe that in rural areas where people don’t have access to fertilisers I can make a difference in raising awareness that urine isn’t waste but a valuable resource,” — Maano Tshimange, Researcher, University of Surrey

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• “Our goal as a company is to bring this technology back where it came from,” — David de Chambrier, CEO, VunaNexus

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VunaNexus plans to expand Aurin production across additional European eco-neighbourhoods, pursue standardisation of the fertiliser, and scale the Durban pilot to demonstrate a viable model for low-income regions. Successful scaling could reduce reliance on volatile global fertiliser markets and provide a renewable nutrient source for agriculture.

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