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Anincinerating toilet is a type of dry toilet that burns human feces instead of flushing them away with water, as does a flush toilet.[1] The thermal energy used to incinerate the waste can be derived from electricity, fuel, oil, or liquified petroleum gas. They are relatively inefficient because of the fuel used.[2]
The first commercially successful incinerating toilet was the Destroilet, patented in 1946. Destroilets were used on ships in the 1960s when laws were passed to prevent the dumping of raw sewage into American waterways.[3]
In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" to promote safer, more effective ways to treat human excreta. Several research teams have received funding to work on developing toilets based on solid waste combustion.[4] For example, a toilet under development by RTI International is based on electrochemical disinfection and solid waste combustion.[5] This technology converts feces into burnable pieces and then uses thermoelectric devices to convert the thermal energy into electrical energy.[citation needed]
Incinerating toilets may be powered by electricity, gas, dried feces or other energy sources.[6][7] Incinerating toilets gather excrement in an integral ashpan and then incinerate it, reducing it to pathogen-free ash.[8] Some will also incinerate "grey water" created from showers and sinks.[citation needed]
Incinerating toilets are used only for niche applications, which include:
