No Need To Waste Waste

Nearly a third of the world’s population still has no access to safe, hygienic sanitation.

17:51 04 February 2016

Millions of people across the globe still have no access to safe, hygienic sanitation. This means that they have to go to the toilet out in the open – in the bush, fields or forests.

 

Jyoti Shukla, senior manager of the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), said: "Sanitation lies at the root of many other development challenges, as poor sanitation impacts public health, education, and the environment.”

 

Although the public sector has been implementing solutions, it seems that the private sector is better placed in addressing the issue.

 

An example is Kenya-based Sanivation that aims to make toilets “cool.” The firm, which has developed a technology to transform human waste into energy briquettes, provides hygienic toilet units to households in slums and refugee camps. The waste, which is collected once a week, is treated and made into charcoal that is safer to burn than traditional charcoal.

 

Another firm adopting the private sector model is Kenya’s Sanergy. It installs Fresh Life Toilets in informal settlements and sells them to local entrepreneurs who create mini-businesses out of each toilet.

 

"Investment in private sector sanitation solutions allows for innovation that can't be undertaken in the more risk-averse public sector," says Medora Brown, Sanergy's communications manager.