Kitty litter goes green

Kitty litter looks set to become greener thanks to researchers from Imperial College London, who have been working on a litter made from waste materials available in UK quarries and polymers used in babies’ nappies.

The best-selling cat litters are made primarily from clay minerals like bentonite and sepiolite, which have to be mined and imported from quarries in Mediterranean countries. This means they have a significant carbon footprint and high product miles.

However, Imperial researchers – working with pet products company Bob Martin – have developed a new type of low-cost kitty litter which can be produced in the UK. This reduces the product miles and makes the littler more sustainable.

“Most people would not realise all the stringent tests that all products have to go through before they reach the consumer. Even humble cat litter!” said Dr Chris Cheeseman from the department of civil and environmental engineering.

“We had to develop a product that was absorbent and robust enough so that it didn’t end up as pulverised dust when tipped out of a packet. We even had to make sure that cat litter did not stick to pussy paws and leave cat tracks through the house.”

Absorbency was a big challenge for the team: they needed to develop a cat litter that had the same absorbent qualities of the materials used in imported products. They needed to augment the quarry waste – which consisted mainly of limestone fines – to make it absorbent.

Mixing the waste with an organic binder and a small amount of absorbent polymer used in nappies, the researchers had their solution. The ingredients could then be mixed and dried to produce a granular cat litter.

The team believe this engineered granule technology could be adapted for used in other applications, like engineered de-icing grits for roads, soil supplements to increase the efficiency of water irrigation and speciality horticultural products.