The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has now laid bare one of the most overlooked vulnerabilities in our food system. A third of the world’s nitrogen fertilisers pass through this 34-kilometre-long corridor. Yet a solution could be found right here in our cities: human urine, rich in nutrients, is a natural fertiliser produced daily, free of charge, by each and every one of us.
Urine: a natural fertiliser that can be collected in urban areas
Human urine contains nitrogen and phosphorus in forms that plants can absorb directly – the same essential nutrients found in synthetic fertilisers imported from the Persian Gulf. When stored for a few months, it turns into liquid manure, a natural agricultural fertiliser that is ready for use.
The OCAPI action research programme run by LEESU (École des Ponts ParisTech) has demonstrated this in practice through the EnVille project. Since late 2023 in Châtillon (92), around twenty residents have been dropping off their urine every week at a collection point within their AMAP. The urine collected is then returned to the fields in the form of liquid manure. The nutrient cycle is closed.
The experiment works. The question now is how to scale it up.
SUPERFERTIL: a voluntary urine collection point for the metropolitan area
This is the ambition that Ekovore wishes to pursue by offering SUPERFERTIL, a urine collection station designed to be deployed on a territorial scale.
Designed by the Faltazi studio, SUPERFERTIL is installed in public spaces as a voluntary drop-off point, similar to the bio-waste containers already present in our streets. Residents deposit their urine collected at home there, in a simple and accessible way for everyone.
The objective: to build local agricultural valorization channels for urine on a metropolitan scale, relying on existing collection logistics of septic tank emptying companies and on specialized service providers to transport the collected volumes to partner farms.
From the waterless urinal to the voluntary drop-off point
SUPERFERTIL is part of a broader initiative led by Ekovore focused on the ecological management of urine in urban environments. Our waterless, eco-friendly urinals already allow for urine collection at the source in public spaces, without water consumption. SUPERFERTIL complements this approach by offering citizen-led collection and application to fields.
Two pieces of equipment, one same logic: no longer treat urine as waste, but as a resource.
Produce locally what we import from the other side of the world
The nitrogen fertilizer we currently import from the Persian Gulf can be produced locally, organically, and collectively. SUPERFERTIL is not just an urban amenity; it’s a proposal for food sovereignty at the neighborhood level.
So? Shall we fill the jerrycans?
