Cape Town Startup Turns Urine Into Sustainable Fertilizer

Imagine if every building could help feed the world while saving water at the same time. That's exactly what a South African startup is making possible.

PeeCycling, a company born from nearly a decade of research at the University of Cape Town, has earned a spot as a finalist for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. The Royal Academy of Engineering award is the continent's most coveted recognition for engineering breakthroughs.

The company's innovation sounds unusual at first: collecting human urine and transforming it into fertilizer. But Professor Dyllon Randall, who co-founded PeeCycling with Dr. Caitlin Courtney, explains it's solving two massive problems at once.

Their system works like a desalination plant in reverse. Instead of converting seawater to drinking water, it concentrates urine into nutrient-rich fertilizer while removing all harmful compounds. The best part? It uses significantly less energy than traditional methods because it doesn't require boiling or freezing.

Randall has led urine research at UCT since 2017. Getting to this point meant systematically testing every step, from waterless collection to chemical treatment to scaling up production. The team also built partnerships to ensure their lab success could work in the real world.

What makes PeeCycling truly scalable is its use of reverse osmosis technology. The parts and membranes are available worldwide, meaning the system can be serviced and expanded anywhere. They're not building custom machines; they're adapting proven industrial platforms.

The company registered in December 2023 and hired its first employee this February. Anna Reid, a UCT master's student, now serves as chief technical officer, connecting academic research directly to commercial operations.

Why This Inspires

Professor Randall's vision goes beyond just recycling waste. He wants cities to stop relying entirely on water-heavy sewers to move nutrients. Instead, buildings could become "local nutrient refineries" that recover resources rather than flushing them away.

The circular economy model treats nothing as waste. Water gets saved. Nutrients get captured. Farmers get affordable fertilizer. And cities become more resilient in the face of water scarcity and food security challenges.

From Dr. Courtney's doctoral research to a company earning international recognition, PeeCycling proves that patient, focused scientific work can bloom into world-changing solutions. Africa's sanitation and agriculture challenges are finding an answer in one of the most overlooked resources on Earth.

The future where our buildings help feed the planet is closer than you think.