Sanivation

Date: 2021

Asset Class: Direct Investment

Description:  Sanivation partners with local governments in Africa to help meet the growing waste processing need from septic tanks and pit latrines. Sanivation designs, builds, and operates fecal sludge treatment plants so they can be operationally sustainable. The plants transform fecal sludge into biomass fuels. The revenue from the sales of fuel covers operational costs. Each plant that they deploy ensures waste is safely managed, creates local employment, prevents environmental pollution, and saves trees through innovative biomass fuels.

Why We Invest: Processing human waste is critical to a public sanitation system. The technology to do so is straightforward but we need sustainable financing models that work for public entities. Sanivation is partnering with local governments to pioneer a business model that generates revenue from human waste to offset operating costs. If successful, this business model could be replicated well beyond Sanivation’s direct activities.