Startup develops processes to recycle plastic and recover water from urine

Chennai-based Samudhyoga has worked on two technologies — DZEEP and EcoFert. Decentralised Zero Emission Energy-efficient Pyrolysis or DZEEP is a unit that converts 1,000 kg of plastic (mixed plastic, MLPs, and polyolefin) to 800 litres of oil with zero emissions and high performance through the process of pyrolysis. This unit requires about 2,500 square feet of land. The pilot project will be completed in south Chennai by July, where a system will be implemented that can recycle 250 kg of plastic waste per day to produce about 200 litres of oil. The project costs about Rs 1 crore, but it will be much lower when implemented on a larger scale, the startup says.

“The oil generated can be used as furnace oil for the production of steam in boilers, and generators with an appropriate proportion of diesel. We are also exploring a purpose to use oil as petroleum feedstock for the production of raw materials,” Keshav Vijay, Business Head, Samudhyoga shares.

The startup’s second technology, EcoFert, works on processing urine released to water bodies that cause eutrophication (increasing mineral content in water bodies). “We came up with a technology called EcoFert that can process urine and recycle water to make toilets a sustainable sanitation technology. From 1,000 litres of urine, the unit recovers 850 litres of water, 100 litres of ammonia, and one kg of struvite. The recovered water is sent back to the system for flushing and gardening purposes. The ammonia is sold, and the money earned is used to develop community toilets,” Keshav explains.

EcoFert can only be used in urinals and presently is implemented at the Engineering Design Department of IIT Madras with a 500-litre system. This unit produces about 50 litres of ammonia every day and can save water consumption of 10,000 people per day.