Clivus Multrum

"Clivus" is Latin for incline or slope; "multrum" is a Swedish composite word meaning "compost room", thus a "Clivus Multrum" is an inclined compost room.

Lindström built a single-chamber concrete tank, with sloped bottom and chimney, for disposal of kitchen and toilet waste.

In the 1970s, Abby Rockefeller, in the United States, read about the idea and wanted to buy a system, but was told they were not for sale due to lack of technical support.

In 1973, Rockefeller founded Clivus Multrum, Inc. in Massachusetts under license from Lindström to market its composting toilet.

The process is advertised as enclosed, long-term composting and is characterized as being odor-free, low maintenance, and able to yield a clean, pathogen-free fertilizer that can be used in agriculture.