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Sanitation Economy

The Sanitation Economy

The sanitation economy is a business response to the global sanitation and hygiene crisis. It comprises three main elements:  

• The Toilet Economy - where businesses and enterprises provide toilets and infrastructure right for local conditions and preferences, alongside services for operation and maintenance.
• The Circular Sanitation Economy - focusing on the whole sanitation chain from the presence of toilet technologies that are environmentally friendly, to the collection of waste and its treatment and transformation into sanitation-derived products, for example fertilizer and fuel.
• The Smart Sanitation Economy - focusing on digitizing sanitation systems to learn about human behaviour and health, including menstrual health

A further breakdown of the sanitation economy is the sanitation value chain as depicted in the image below. SHF aims to work with actors locally to identify, build and bolster the different components of the value chain to ensure toilets or handwashing facilities are not only created but also maintained, emptied and durable with waste being collected, transported and treated, including for reuse. This helps ensure that communities not only benefit from access to products and services but their health and well-being is also ensured, along with that of the environment. 

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