Sugar made from Blackburn sewage ‘won’t be going into food chain’

A water company is extracting sugar from toilet paper flushed down the loo.

United Utilities said it was undertaking the “ground-breaking” trials at its Blackburn sewage works.

The water company said the naturally occurring glucose could be turned into biofuels, bioplastics and detergents.

United Utilities (UU) said people could be assured the sewage sugar was for industrial use only, and was not destined for the food chain.

The process – known as Cellvation – was developed in the Netherlands.

It sees toilet paper filtered and compacted before enzymes and chemicals are added to kickstart the digestion process.

The mixture is then heated for two days to allow the cellulose material to break down and transform into glucose.

Lisa Mansell, UU’s chief engineer for innovation and carbon, said with more than 200,000 people’s toilets emptying into the sewage works, there was plenty of toilet paper to work with.

She added: “There are numerous potential uses for biopolymers such as glucose, including in the production of biofuels and as an alternative material for manufacturing things like bioplastics and more sustainable detergents.”

A second technology is also being trialled which sees biopolymers recovered from the sewage sludge left at the end of the treatment process.

This “has potential to deliver significant carbon reduction benefits for the water sector and many other industries in the UK”, she added.