More poo power?

Money is power, never more so when sifting through poo!

Faeces is a difficult commodity for those involved in the management of healthcare and related sanitary wastes. It is smelly, heavy, it leaks and spills from waste sacks . . . . .

Just how much more troublesome could the vast quantities of faecal waste be?

Add to that minor fraction that appears in healthcare and sanitary wastes the vast quantities of faeces delivered directly to foul sewer and the costs escalate considerably. That is a business for some, but are there more valuable resources to be recovered and more profit to be made?

BBC Science News reported today that US researchers are investigating ways to extract gold and precious metals from human faeces!

The group identified gold in waste from American sewage treatment plants at levels which if found in rock could be worth mining. Details were outlined at the 249th national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Denver.

Extracting metals from the waste could also help curb the release of toxic substances into the environment. “The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit,” said co-author Dr Kathleen Smith, from the US Geological Survey (USGS).

As insoluble heavy metals these microscopic particles might effectively be trapped and retained in sewage sludge, and easily integrated with sewage treatment facilities, to create a remarkable additional resource recovery opportunity.

A great investment opportunity, and one very much of environmental benefit.

There’s gold in them there…!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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