Urine is the liquid gold of waste production, says Dr Dyllon Randall, a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Along with his team, Randall tested his latest theory by producing the first-ever bio-brick grown directly from human urine. “With sustainability in mind, we need a paradigm shift. We should be rethinking waste [like urine], focusing on resource recovery. We need sustainable processes that reduce carbon emissions,” he explained in a Q&A with UCT news. Randall’s solution is to practice resource recovery by shifting our focus to the resources that have no chance in depleting, like urine. The biobricks sustainability factor extends itself to how the urine is collected as well. The team collects urine directly from selected toilets at UCT that they’ve equipped with removable containers, where the fertiliser and remaining urine builds up. This is also seen as the world’s first fertiliser-producing urinal.