Editing Gates Foundation (section)

====Reinvent the Toilet Challenge====
In 2011, the foundation launched a program called "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" with the aim to promote the development of innovations in toilet design to benefit the 2.5 billion people that do not have access to safe and effective sanitation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge |title=What we do – Reinvent the Toilet Challenge – Strategy Overview |access-date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |archive-date=July 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721050247/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":1">BMGF (2012). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1636 Reinvent the Toilet Challenge (RTTC, Round 1 and 2), Grand Challenges Explorations (Round 6 and 7) – Request for proposals, grant conditions, Seattle exhibition fair program and exhibitor guide.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026131521/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1636 |date=October 26, 2014 }} Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref> This program has generated significant interest of the mainstream media.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/opinion/bill-gates-cant-build-a-toilet.html?_r=0 |title=Bill Gates Can't Build a Toilet |date=November 18, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |website=New York Times Opinion Pages |last=Kass |first=Jason |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325040746/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/opinion/bill-gates-cant-build-a-toilet.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/after-10-years-few-payoffs-from-gatesrsquo-lsquogrand-challengesrsquo/ |title=After 10 years, few payoffs from Gates' 'Grand Challenges' |date=December 21, 2014 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |website=The Seattle Times, Local News |publisher=The Seattle Times |last=Doughton |first=Sandy |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142325/http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/after-10-years-few-payoffs-from-gatesrsquo-lsquogrand-challengesrsquo/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was complemented by a program called "Grand Challenges Explorations" (2011 to 2013 with some follow-up grants reaching until 2015) which involved grants of $100,000 each in the first round.<ref name=":1"/> Both funding schemes explicitly excluded project ideas that relied on centralized [[sanitary sewer|sewerage systems]] or are not compatible with development country contexts.<ref name=":5">Radke, N., Spuhler, D. (2013) [http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-1636-gates-grant-schemes-simple-overview-may-2013-version-2.pdf Brief overview of conditions for water, sanitation and hygiene grants by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726172427/http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-1636-gates-grant-schemes-simple-overview-may-2013-version-2.pdf |date=July 26, 2024 }}</ref>
[[File:Microbial fuel cell stack that converts urine into electricity (13359544514).jpg|thumb|[[Microbial fuel cell]] stack that converts [[urine]] into electricity (research by the [[University of the West of England]], UK)]]
Since the launch of the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge", more than a dozen research teams, mainly at universities in the U.S., Europe, India, China, and South Africa, have received grants to develop innovative on-site and off-site waste treatment solutions for the urban poor. The grants were in the order of $400,000 for their first phase, followed by typically $1 million – 3 million for their second phase; many of them investigated resource recovery or processing technologies for [[excreta]] or [[fecal sludge]].<ref>Elisabeth von Muench, Dorothee Spuhler, Trevor Surridge, Nelson Ekane, Kim Andersson, Emine Goekce Fidan, Arno Rosemarin (2013) [http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-2042-ssp-17okt20134-10-about-the-gates-sanitation-grants-on-forum.pdf Sustainable Sanitation Alliance members take a closer look at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's sanitation grants] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130222401/http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-2042-ssp-17okt20134-10-about-the-gates-sanitation-grants-on-forum.pdf |date=November 30, 2016 }}, Sustainable Sanitation Practice Journal, Issue 17, p. 4-10</ref>

The "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" is focused on "reinventing the [[flush toilet]]". The aim was to create a toilet that not only removes [[pathogen]]s from human [[excreta]], but also [[resource recovery|recovers resources]] such as energy, clean water, and [[nutrient]]s (a concept also known as [[reuse of excreta]]). It should operate "[[off-the-grid]]" without connections to water, sewer, or electrical networks. Finally, it should cost less than 5 cents per user per day.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Shaw" />

High-tech toilets for tackling the growing public health problem of [[human waste]] are gaining increasing attention, but this focus on a "technology fix" has also been criticized by many in the sector.<ref name=":4" /> However, low-tech solutions may be more practical in poor countries, and research is also funded by the foundation for such toilets.<ref name="Shaw">{{cite book |url=http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1993 |title=A Collection of Contemporary Toilet Designs |date=2014 |publisher=EOOS and WEDC, Loughborough University, UK |isbn=978-1-84380-155-9 |pages=40 |last1=Shaw |first1=R. |access-date=April 10, 2017 |archive-date=September 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908020337/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1993 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Humphreys">{{cite journal |last=Humphreys |first=Gary | title=Reinventing the toilet for 2.5 billion in need | journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization | volume=92 | issue=7 | date=1 July 2014 | pmid=25110370 | pmc=4121873 | doi=10.2471/BLT.14.020714 | doi-access=free | pages=470–471}}</ref>

The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge is a long-term research and development effort to develop a hygienic, stand-alone toilet. This challenge is being complemented by another investment program to develop new technologies for improved [[Fecal sludge management|pit latrine emptying]] (called by the foundation the "Omni-Ingestor"<ref>Frederick, R., Gurski, T. (2012). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1718 Synapse Dewatering Investigation Report – Omni-Ingestor Phase 2, Milestone 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726172433/https://www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resources-and-publications/library/details/1718 |date=July 26, 2024 }}. Consultancy report by Synapse (USA) commissioned by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref>) and [[Septage|fecal sludge]] processing (called "[[Omni-Processor]]"). The aim of the "Omni Processor" is to convert [[excreta]] (for example [[Fecal sludge management|fecal sludge]]) into beneficial products such as energy and soil nutrients with the potential to develop local business and revenue.<ref>Kuchenrither, R. D., Stone, L., Haug, R. T. (2012). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1640 Omni-Processor Landscaping Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613132857/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1640 |date=June 13, 2017 }}. Consultancy report by WERF (Water Environment Research Foundation), commissioned by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref>