Process Turns Liquid Sludge Into Energy and Fertilizer

We recently covered a startup, Ostara, that turns sludge liquid into high-quality commercial fertilizer. Now Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand wants to do Ostara one better with Wetox, a project that breaks down sludge and turns it into a number of byproducts, including fertilizer, water, steam, and acetic acid.

According to Water and Wastewater, Wetox uses a process called wet oxidation (get it?) to clean up sludge. In the past, the process has only been affordable enough for...