Let’s face it – if we’re going to keep wrecking the planet, we might as well make use of the mess we’re creating. Biofactories take waste like weeds, manure, and ash and transform it into organic substances for agriculture or commercial use. It’s all part of creating a "circular economy," where no perfectly good garbage goes to waste. Biofactories cut production costs, protect the environment, and, you know, make large-scale farming slightly less catastrophic.

The first biofactory was built in Chile in 2017, where Aguas Andinas turned a water waste processing plant into an energy factory. By 2019, it was powering 80% of the city. So, as we continue to bury ourselves in trash, biofactories could be the water-to-wine miracle that keeps the lights on.