Did you know that approximately 40 percent of the world’s population — 2.6 billion people — has no access to a toilet? That fact is sobering from a humanitarian perspective and presents a profound market opportunity for any entrepreneur who can develop a simple, cheap, scaleable solution to this serious health problem.

According to a report ^[1] in the New York Times, Swedish entrepreneur Anders Wilhelmson has developed and tested a biodegradable plastic bag that acts as a single-use toilet for urban slums in the developing world. The Peepoo ^[2] can be buried after use, where a layer of urea crystals kills off pathogens that produce disease and converts the waste into fertilizer.

Millions of people in the developing world die every year as a result of open defecation. Wilhelmson has tested the Peepoo extensively in Kenya and India and is now planning to sell his product for about two or three cents a bag.