New ‘Pooper-Scooper’ Turns Dog Droppings Into Ash

If you have a dog, then you know that no matter how fancy a pooper-scooper you’ve got, after Rover’s walk you are still left with a messy, smelly nuisance that pollutes the environment with sewage and plastic bags.

One Israeli who got fined for failing to pick up the droppings decided to contact Prof. Oded Shoseyov of the Hebrew University, a renowned biotech inventor, for a better solution. And Shoseyov rose to the challenge.

His novel idea is AshPoopie, a pooper-scooper with a critical difference: After it gathers the droppings, it turns them into odorless, sterile ash within seconds. All the dog-walker has to do is push a button to release an activation capsule from the cartridge inside the unit.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhTHIsRDll0[/youtube]

 “Where have you been all this time?”

Recently, AshPoopie earned patents in Europe and the United States. Ramat Gan-based Paulee CleanTec, the company founded to develop this and related products, is working with engineers to finalize the design ahead of a 2012 US launch.

Apparently, American retailers can’t wait to start stocking the product. “Where have you been all this time?” was the reaction most often heard by executives of the privately funded company when they introduced AshPoopie in September at SuperZoo 2011, the major US pet products exhibition in Las Vegas.

With about 75 million registered dogs in the United States and the same number in Europe, it came as no surprise that some of the biggest pet product manufacturers and retailers were clamoring to talk with Paulee CleanTec about partnerships, licensing agreements, joint ventures and sole marketing rights.

Paulee CleanTec CFO Moshe Hibel points out that the latest innovations in this field, such as flushable droppings bags, don’t really help the environment and sidestep the core issue.

“Rather than moving the problem from one place to another, we are really eliminating it completely,” Hibel tells ISRAEL21c. “We tried different methods including burning, until we reached the ultimate solution. All the science behind it is done and now we are focused on the mechanism.”

Odorless sterile ash within 10 seconds

The easy-to-carry device contains special tablets that drop into the collection chamber via a button. Within 10 seconds, the feces is transformed into a small amount of odorless sterile ash that can be deposited harmlessly anywhere, even on plants. Shoseyov, who also owns a winery, is the brains behind this and about 15 other patented inventions.

“We are hoping to join the [Israel] Chief Scientist’s technology incubator in Haifa,” says Hibel. “If we are accepted, some of the components must be manufactured in Israel.”

The cost of AshPoopie hasn’t yet been determined, but Hibel expects it to be relatively inexpensive. A monthly supply of capsules will cost $10 to $20, depending on the size of the dog.
…

To continue reading this story, click here
Via http://www.israel21c.org/
Photo by Ashpoopie