• Swindon & Wiltshire Innovation
• Friday April 25 2025

Bristol firms to turn London Marathon runners’ wee into fertiliser

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

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

But this year, PEEQUAL are working with fellow Bristol-based startup NPK Recovery to recycle the urine – helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s most popular marathon.

The companies previously worked together making fertiliser from urine collected at Bristol Pride.

Urine from nine PEEQUAL urinals, positioned at the marathon’s yellow startline, 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. If used purely for growing, 1,000 litres of urine could grow wheat for approximately 195 loaves of bread.

Both startups hope to one day recycle all urine from large-scale events. If recycled, the urine from last year’s 53,700 London Marathon finishers could fertilise enough wheat to bake 3,142 loaves of bread, according to NPK Recovery.

Amber Probyn, co-founder of multi-award winning PEEQUAL, said: “We love coming to the London Marathon because we firmly believe that women shouldn’t have to choose between starting their race on-time or waiting to go to the loo.

“We’re really proud that 1,000 litres of wee won’t go to sewage, and will instead be recycled into something amazing!”

NPK Recovery use bacteria to recover naturally occurring nutrients from the urine, creating a liquid fertiliser.

Hannah Vandenbergh, founder of NPK Recovery, said: “Urine doesn’t have to be a waste product and we’re excited to be playing a small part in helping support the sustainability commitments of the iconic TCS London Marathon.

“Ultimately, we want to help event organisers all over recycle their urine and reduce their carbon footprints.”

Kate Chapman, head of sustainability at London Marathon Events said: “Part of our environmental strategy is to try and find an “onward use” for all waste that is generated at our events, for instance composting, reusing, upcycling and much more besides.

“We are delighted that the urine from the PEEQUAL urinals can be used for something so positive rather than going to waste.”

Pictured: PEEQUAL co-founders Hazel McShane (left) and Amber Probyn