Heat waste to about 600°C. The Incinolet (below) is akin to a self-cleaning oven, using an electric element to char waste. Fuelled by propane or natural gas, Storburn toilets incinerate 30 to 40 uses at a time, in a process that begins “like boiling potatoes on a stove,” says company president David R. Gabriel.
The good: The end result is sterile ash.
The bad: Energy demand. The Incinolet needs 1 kilowatt (about 12 cents at peak price) per use. (By comparison, the electric fan and heater in a self-contained composting toilet will run between 6 and 13 hours on the same juice.) A 20 lb barbecue-sized tank of propane handles 90 to 120 uses of the Storburn.
The ugly: On still days, pungent exhaust could send the neighbours indoors.
The ick factor: The Storburn holds waste, vault-style, for days until full. Some use the com-pany’s odour-fighting masking foam—but that’s only “for the timid,” scoffs Storburn user Joe Farnham.
