Category: Tech

Bill Gates and Melinda Gates collaborate with Samsung to develop a waterless toilet that burns solid waste into ashes.

The waterless toilet employs heat-treatment and bioprocessing technologies to eliminate viruses present in human waste. Liquid waste is handled using a biological purification procedure, while solid trash is dehydrated, dried, and burned to ashes. 

As per information available on the official website of Samsung, the system also permits complete recycling of the treated water. This Project is part of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Reinvent the Toilet Challenge.” Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT).

According to the Gates Foundation, “The initiative aims to generate innovative solutions that can protect people and communities from human waste–borne pathogens and enable governments to deliver truly inclusive sanitation services that reach the poorest communities.” The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation claims that the disposal of human waste, which has not changed much since it was first practiced, is a substantial cause of a number of serious health issues.

The reinvented toilet project at SAIT in Suwon, Korea, was attended by Gyoyoung Jin, President, and Head of SAIT; Doulaye Kone, Deputy Director, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene and Sun Kim, Senior Program Officer, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Yong Chae Lee, External Advisor to the Foundation, along with the project’s participants from SAIT

As per World Health Organization and UNICEF, around 3.6 billion people are compelled to use substandard sanitation facilities, and as a result, 500,000 children under the age of five pass away every year from diarrheal infections brought on by a lack of access to clean water and proper hygiene.

The core technologies developed by Samsung include heat-treatment and bioprocessing technologies to kill pathogens from human waste and make the released effluent and solids safe for the environment. The system enables the treated water to be fully recycled, Solid waste is dehydrated, dried and combusted into ashes, while liquid waste is treated through a biological purification process.

Samsung said in a news release

As per the statement released by Samsung, The core technologies developed by Samsung include heat-treatment and bioprocessing technologies to kill pathogens from human waste and make the released effluent and solids safe for the environment. The system enables the treated water to be fully recycled. Solid waste is dehydrated, dried, and combusted into ashes, while liquid waste is treated through a biological purification process.

Benefits of Reinvent the Toilet Challenge

• Remove harmful pathogens from human waste and recover valuable resources such as energy, clean water, and nutrients
• Operate “off the grid” without connections to water and sewers and require minimal electricity
• Cost less than US$.05 cents per user per day
• Promote sustainable and profitable sanitation services and businesses in poor urban settings
• Can appeal to everyone, in developed as well as developing nations

Milestones in Reinvent the Toilet Challenge

• July 2011: The foundation awards grants to 16 researchers around the world to develop reinvented toilet technologies based on innovative approaches and engineering processes.
• August 2012: The foundation hosted a two-day Reinvent the Toilet Fair at our headquarters in Seattle to showcase sanitation projects and reinvented toilet prototypes. The fair brings together participants from 29 countries, including researchers, designers, investors, advocates, and representatives from communities that could ultimately adopt these innovative approaches to sanitation.
• August 2013: Announced Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: China, committing US$5 million to support Chinese innovators in developing and producing the “next-generation toilets.”
• October 2013: In collaboration with India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, we launch Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India to support sanitation research and development projects led by Indian innovators and organizations that can extend affordable sanitation services to poor communities.
• March 2014: The second Reinvent the Toilet Fair: India is held in Delhi aimed to stimulate discussion and spur partnerships to bring safe, affordable sanitation to the 2.5 billion people who lack access.
• November 2018: The foundation joined global innovators, development banks, corporate partners, sanitation utilities, and governments to host the first Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing. The expo features product announcements and funding commitments aimed at accelerating the adoption of innovative, non-sewered sanitation technologies in developing regions around the world.
• 2020: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Reinvent the Toilet Challenge partner with South Africa’s Water Research Commission and the Department of Science and Innovation to launch the first reinvented commercial demonstration platform to pilot reinvented toilet models in school and community settings.

The initiative has resulted in more than 25 breakthrough processing components and technologies that that are available for commercialization by product and sanitation service companies.