Hello everyone and welcome to ZD Tech, ZDNet’s daily editorial podcast. I am Rock and today I will explain to you why Bill Gates is so interested in our toilets, and what Samsung is doing in this story.
Since his departure from Microsoft, it is well known that the most famous billionaire on the Tech planet, namely Bill Gates, is interested in an astronomical number of projects. Air conditioning, public health, agri-food, contraception… the American entrepreneur is multiplying the projects within the framework of the foundation he set up with his now ex-girlfriend, Melinda Gates.
If there is one project that deserves attention, it is “Reinvent the Toilet” which, as its name suggests, carries with it the objective of creating the toilets of the future. Launched in 2011, this call for projects aims to develop cost-effective toilets that can provide inclusive sanitation services without the need for wastewater treatment systems.
Samsung to the rescue
But then, what is Samsung doing in this story? It’s quite simple: the Korean technology giant announced this summer that it had developed, as part of the plan concocted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, what could perhaps be called the toilets of the future. The company’s advanced research branch has been working on this since 2019 and has just manufactured a first prototype of these toilets equipped with heat treatment and biotreatment technology intended to kill pathogens in our excrement without any danger to the body. environment.
The water treated during this process can be fully recycled, while the solid waste is dried and reduced to ashes and the liquid waste is purified, we know from the side of the South Korean giant. The icing on the cake, Samsung says it wants to offer free patent licenses related to toilets to developing countries when marketing these WC 2.0 which could well ultimately be of great help in the environmental fight.
This is not the first time that Samsung wants to be at the forefront on the subject. While the manufacture of smartphones and other electronic devices is rightly singled out for its impact on the environment, the Asian giant had already caused a sensation at the start of the year by announcing the launch of new products made from used fishing.