Through the support of the National Science Foundation, the team has found a way to extract the rich oil that is found in pig waste, and mix it with rocks to form a new type of asphalt durable enough for highway traffic, which they call Bio-Adhesive.

The researchers were trying to solve pig farmers' ever-present challenge of what to do with the nearly 43 billion gallons of pig excrement that is generated worldwide every year.

The extensive and tedious research, which has included putting samples of the new material through rigorous vehicle simulators and tests to determine its durability, has proven to be a success. In fact, Prof Fini and a group of partners have set up a company called Bio-Adhesives Alliance.

“We test it to see if it will rock or sag too much because it shouldn’t do that. Also it shouldn’t crack at low temperatures. We think it’s scalable and cost wise its profitable,” said Prof Fini. “Our vision is to help the farmer and help the construction industry; both sides. We see a win/win solution.”

The new product is so efficient that nearly nothing goes to waste. During processing, the foul, off-putting aroma is filtered out, and even the by-products of the bio-adhesive can be used by farmers as fertiliser.

At only $0.56 per gallon to process, Bio-Adhesive is a viable solution to further reduce dependence on the more expensive petroleum.