# Why human urine may be our most untapped natural resource

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-genius-226559/why-human-urine-may-be-our-most-untapped-natural-resource
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-genius-226559/why-human-urine-may-be-our-most-untapped-natural-resource.md
Podcast: [Instant Genius](https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-genius-226559)
Published: 2026-07-19T23:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR9603049646.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR9603049646.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/instant-genius-226559/episodes/why-human-urine-may-be-our-most-untapped-natural-resource
Duration seconds: 1593

## Resource

While largely viewed as a toxic waste product with no practical use, our urine is actually rich in all manner of valuable nutrients that, with a little effort, can be extracted, recycled and converted into fertiliser for use on food crops, used to make building materials or even used to generate electricity. In this episode, we’re joined by Kai Udert, a researcher based at the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, to talk about the many ways we could be putting our pee to better use. He tells us how our current systems of dealing with wastewater came into being, what happens to our urine once we flush it down the toilet, and talks us through some ways in which we may be able to make more use of this common, overlooked resource. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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