Improving WASH systems across East Africa with innovative waste-to-energy management plants
The Dutch Fund for Climate and Development intends to partner with Sanivation to improve faecal waste management in Kenya and East Africa.
Throughout many cities in East Africa, faecal waste mismanagement has led to a sanitation crisis. Underdeveloped WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) systems and infrastructure mean faecal waste is often poorly handled or simply pumped into nearby waterways. Access to clean and safe drinking water is compromised, exposure to disease is increased, and the surrounding landscape and wildlife is adversely affected.
For over 10 years, Sanivation has been partnering with local government utility providers to help solve waste management issues in cities throughout Africa. One of the innovative ways they do this is by designing, building, and operating sanitation services and Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs) that help to deliver clean, safe, and efficient sanitation services to urbanizing communities in low-income countries.
To date, the company has deployed three waste-to-energy treatment plants and has big ambitions to grow and scale. In the plants, faecal sludge is collected and compacted into biomass briquettes. These can be bought by large offtakers who use them as a more climate-friendly alternative to traditional fuel sources. This more effective system of waste management contributes to an improvement in the cities’ overall dignity and health, while reducing CO2 emissions and improving climate adaptation in the region.
Sanivation will put a grant of €358,000 from the DFCD towards developing their financial model, conducting a strategic and social assessment of their activities, as well as feasibility and legal studies for scaling their operations. Once this has been implemented, the company will seek a further investment of €5-10 million from the DFCD’s Water Use Facility, managed by Climate Fund Managers.
'We are excited to have successfully secured support from the DFCD to help our work in providing clean, safe, and efficient sanitation services to urbanizing communities in sub-Saharan African countries. Sanivation's mission is to enable clean, healthy, and productive cities. With DFCD's support, we intend to prepare more projects for implementation by carrying out feasibility analyses and business modeling for faecal waste-to-value treatment technologies. Together, we will continue to push boundaries, explore innovative solutions, and empower communities with the transformative impact of climate-positive sanitation infrastructure.'
'Sanivation represents an interesting opportunity to leverage the private sector to deliver budget friendly sanitation in areas that need it most. We are excited to work with them and support them in bringing this model to the market.'
For more information, contact Keiron Brand, Regional Lead WWF DFCD Africa at kbrand@wwf.nl.
In case you have any grievances in relation to this project of the DFCD’s Origination Facility, please contact us through our service desk at servicedesk@wwf.nl.
Sanivation is a social enterprise dedicated to improving the overall health, dignity, and environment of urbanizing communities in East Africa through delivering clean, safe, and efficient sanitation services.