With the ever-growing popularity of bacon is the inevitable growing pile of—you guessed it—poo. Upwards of 43 billion gallons of pig manure is produced per year worldwide, according to the National Science Foundation, putting hog farmers in a stinky situation.

However, the future of pig waste may not be as dirty as previously thought. Ellie Fini, a civil engineer with North Carolina A&T State University, has found a way to turn pig manure into a bioadhesive—the sticky stuff that holds asphalt together.

Pig manure could pave the road to a new sustainable asphalt, thanks to civil engineer Ellie Fini and a team at North Carolina A&T State University. Fini and her partners have filed patents on the technology and set up a company called Bio-Adhesive Alliance. Watch and share how this #NSFfunded‬ formula is being engineered and tested. It may be coming to a road near you: 1.usa.gov/28XHQYd And yes, they’ve dealt with the “aroma” issue! #scienceiscool #environmentalengineer #womeninstem #womenengineers

A photo posted by National Science Foundation (@nsfgov) on Jun 28, 2016 at 9:32am PDT

Supposedly, the material she and her team has come up with is just as durable as the petroleum-based asphalt used on roadways today but without relying on nonrenewable fossil fuels. That means it won’t chip or crumble as heavy semis roll overtop of it.

Not only does this emerging technology help farmers deal with all that poo, the byproduct of the bioadhesive can be returned to farmers for use as a soil amendment. Win win!