Bill Gates Sinks More Money Into Reinventing The Toilet

Bill Gates wants to change how the world uses the toilet; and he’s willing to spend more than $370 million to do so, reported the Associated Press on Tuesday, after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave out new grants to numerous organisations and scientists, as part of their “Reinvent The Toilet Challenge.”

Bill Gates wants to change how the world uses the toilet; and he’s willing to spend more than $370 million to do so, reported the Associated Press on Tuesday, after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave out new grants to numerous organisations and scientists, as part of their “Reinvent The Toilet Challenge.”

The Microsoft co-founder, and renowned philanthropist, was at the “Reinvent the Toilet Fair” in Seattle on Tuesday, when he announced over $3.4 million in new funding to several toilet-based projects – including a $100,000 prize to the California Institute of Technology for its work on a solar-powered toilet that could also recycle water and break down faeces into storable energy.

In total, the Gates Foundation has committed up to $370 million into developing a new toilet since last year, with over 200 inventors, designers, investors and partners noq participating in creating safe, effective, and inexpensive waste management systems.

According to Gates, a new breakthrough in toilet technology was necessary for the world, especially as the modern toilet has not fundamentally changed since its invention in 1775, while 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die every year due to a lack of access to modern sanitation.

“Toilets are extremely important for public health and, when you think of it, even human dignity,” said Gates in a statement on his site.

[quote]”The flush toilets we use in the wealthy world are irrelevant, impractical and impossible for 40 percent of the global population, because they often don’t have access to water, and sewers, electricity, and sewage treatment systems.”[/quote]

Approximately 2.5 billion people worldwide – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia – don’t have access to safe sanitation systems and have to defecate in the open, added Gates.

[quote]”Beyond a question of human dignity, this lack of access also endangers people’s lives, creates an economic and a health burden for poor communities, and hurts the environment,” he said.[/quote]

Among the projects exhibited at the fair, included the California Institute of Technology’s invention, as well as a toilet from Loughborough University that could transform human waste into biological charcoal, minerals and clean water; and another toilet from the University of Toronto that could sanitise human waste and recover minerals and water.

All the projects displayed were given the goal of creating a hygienic toilet that would use little, or no water, as possible, while being safe and affordable for users.

“Imagine what’s possible if we continue to collaborate, stimulate new investment in this sector, and apply our ingenuity in the years ahead,” said Gates, as cited by Reuters.

[quote]”Many of these innovations will not only revolutionize sanitation in the developing world, but also help transform our dependence on traditional flush toilets in wealthy nations.”[/quote]

Since 1994, Bill Gates, through the Gates Foundation, has handed out over $26 billion in funding for health, development and education ventures worldwide. The foundation, which Gates co-chairs with his father and wife, Melinda, is the world’s biggest private philanthropic organisation with an endowment worth more than US$33 billion.

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