In Conversation with Neil Macleod – Sanitation, the Cinderella in the climate change and human sustainability debate.

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) cordially invites you to a conversation with Neil Macleod on Sanitation, the Cinderella in the climate change and human sustainability debate.

Sanitation includes sewage treatment and solid waste disposal and is a topic that is not often spoken about as it is generally perceived as something unclean and a danger to public health. But there is a positive side to sanitation in that it is a valuable source of plant nutrients, water and energy – commodities essential for life and with uncertain futures. The discussion will focus on why sanitation has a valuable role to play in contributing to human sustainability. Just to give one example, phosphorous is a finite resource that has no substitute and is an essential component of our DNA and a vital plant nutrient – after being mined and consumed, most ends up in sewage and flows into the oceans of the world where it is difficult and costly to reclaim.