Marathon project will turn runners' urine into fertiliser

URINE from thousands of women running in the TCS London Marathon will be saved from sewage and turned into crop-growing fertiliser.

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This will be the third year running that PEEQUAL's women's urinals which are 2.7 times faster to use than other portable toilets - have reduced queues at the marathon.

But this year it is working with fellow Bristol-based start-up NPK Recovery to recycle the urine - helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the world's most popular marathon.

Urine from nine urinals, positioned at the marathon's yellow start, will be processed into safe and effective fertiliser for wheat, a crop hungry for urine's nitrogen content.

The 1,000 litres of urine will be used for field tests to improve the fertiliser and evaluate its performance on wheat.