Billionaire Bill Gates has partnered with electronics company Samsung to create a prototype waterless toilet for household use that turns solid waste into ashes.

The toilet was developed as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Reinvent the Toilet Challenge – an initiative that started in 2011 that sought proposals for toilets that safely and effectively manage human waste.

The Microsoft founder worked with the research and development arm of Samsung Electronics to design the waterless toilet, which uses heat-treatment and bioprocessing technologies to kill pathogens found in human waste.

"The system enables the treated water to be fully recycled," explained Samsung. "Solid waste is dehydrated, dried and combusted into ashes, while liquid waste is treated through a biological purification process."

"The core technologies developed by Samsung include heat-treatment and bioprocessing technologies to kill pathogens from human waste and make the released effluent and solids safe for the environment," the brand added.

Left untreated, the nitrogen and micro-pollutants found in human waste and sewage can be harmful and dangerous to both people and the planet.

The prototype toilet, which Samsung Electronics described as "energy-efficient" is designed to run without water. It could be particularly useful in remote regions where water is scarce.