‘This is not a hippy thing’: the startup recycling urine to make natural fertiliser
VunaNexus turns separated human urine into certified fertiliser, pitching it as a resilience play as global fertiliser markets face shocks.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
A Swiss startup is turning urine from offices and neighbourhood toilets into a liquid fertiliser called Aurin. The company says the idea is less niche activism than mineral recycling, and it is being adopted in Europe as fertiliser markets face geopolitical strain.
VunaNexus is like turning pee into plant food instead of wasting it. The company separates it, cleans it, and makes a liquid farmers can use, a bit like recycling bottles into something new.
Analysis
What VunaNexus does
VunaNexus separates urine at the source with special toilets, treats it in a basement plant, removes micropollutants, concentrates nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, pasteurises the liquid, and turns the result into Aurin, a fertiliser the company says is made entirely from human urine.
Why interest is rising
The startup argues the pitch has changed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed fertiliser prices up. That shock, along with wider supply vulnerability through shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, has made governments and companies more open to alternatives that can strengthen food-supply resilience.
Where it is used
The system is already installed in several large buildings, including one of Switzerland’s largest private banks in Geneva, and is being rolled out in a new eco-neighbourhood in Paris. The product is approved by Swiss and French authorities for use on all plants and is sold for gardens, house plants and testing by city authorities in Paris, Lausanne and Zurich.
The hard part: economics
The article makes clear that the model is not yet competitive on price alone. De Chambrier says producing one kilogram of nitrogen from urine on a small site costs 40 to 50 times more than synthetic fertiliser. The company’s case is that scaling up, plus payment for wastewater treatment, is needed for the model to work commercially.
The broader lesson
The technology grew out of a South African sanitation project that proved the fertiliser could work on maize, but logistics made that version unviable at scale. The current European rollout suggests the idea may fit dense cities better than rural commodity agriculture, at least for now.
Key points
- VunaNexus turns separated urine into a liquid fertiliser called Aurin.
- The company says the product is certified and approved for use on all plants in Switzerland and France.
- Fertiliser supply shocks after the Ukraine war renewed interest in alternatives.
- The startup says the economics are still difficult because production is much costlier than synthetic fertiliser.
- The technology is being tested in cities including Paris, Lausanne and Zurich.
If the rollout continues, cities could recover useful nutrients from waste while reducing pressure on fertiliser supplies. The system could also make urban water treatment more resilient and offer farmers another source of plant food.
The biggest risk is cost: the article says urine-based nitrogen is still far more expensive than synthetic fertiliser on a small site. If VunaNexus cannot scale or get paid for treatment services, the model may stay a niche solution rather than a market alternative.
