Sanivation: Turning Waste into Value in Urban Africa
In rapidly urbanizing regions of Africa, sanitation infrastructure, waste management, and environmental health remain urgent challenges. Sanivation is a social enterprise innovating at the intersection of circular sanitation, waste-to-energy, and public health, to provide affordable, sustainable sanitation services and convert human waste into biofuel. In this post, we explore Sanivation’s model, technology, impact, and future trajectory in the sanitation / cleantech sectors.
Understanding Sanivation’s Mission & Model
What Sanivation Does
Sanivation describes itself as “a sanitation partner for African secondary cities” — working with local governments and utilities to safely manage fecal waste, reduce environmental contamination, create jobs, and lower carbon emissions.
The firm provides full value-chain services from waste collection, treatment / processing, and waste-to-value conversion of fecal sludge into biomass briquettes or fuels.
Sanivation combines sanitation, resource recovery, and social enterprise principles to align environmental health with financial sustainability.
Origins & Evolution
The founders conceived of turning waste into fuel while studying at Georgia Tech, later joining accelerators like Start-Up Chile.
Initially, their approach focused on container-based sanitation (CBS) systems — deploying “Blue Box” toilets and collecting waste for offsite treatment.
Over time, Sanivation shifted toward more integrated fecal sludge management (FSM) in partnership with municipalities, building fecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs) and developing a waste-to-energy product line.
This evolution reflects a maturation from decentralized toilet services into systems that interface with urban infrastructure.
Core Services & Technical Approach
Waste Collection & Container-Based Sanitation
Sanivation supports urban sanitation systems by offering:
Container-based toilets / Blue Box systems: In some settings (including informal settlements or refugee camps), households or users receive sealed containers or dry toilets; waste is regularly collected by Sanivation staff.
Pit latrine / septic tank sludge collection: The company also partners with utilities and local governments to collect and transport fecal sludge from pit latrines, septic tanks, or exhauster trucks.
The objective is to prevent open dumping or untreated discharge into the environment, which is a major public health and environmental hazard.
Waste Treatment & Conversion to Fuel
One of Sanivation’s signature innovations is converting treated sludge into biomass briquettes or fuels:
Waste is collected and sent to treatment facilities, where thermal, solar, or heat-based processes inactivate pathogens (e.g. via solar concentrators).
The treated sludge is mixed with biomass waste (e.g. sawdust or agricultural residues) and extruded into non-carbonized briquettes or fuel pellets suited for industrial boilers or local fuel markets
These briquettes act as a low-carbon alternative to firewood or charcoal, thus reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions
By selling the fuel product, Sanivation generates revenue that supports the sustainability of the sanitation operations.
Urban Planning, Advisory & Scaling
Beyond operations, Sanivation offers master planning and sanitation system design services:
It engages with city governments to create inclusive sanitation plans (city-wide, climate-resilient, cost-effective) rather than relying solely on conventional sewer expansion.
Sanivation provides technical advisory to utilities on waste management pathways, strategic interventions, and scaling frameworks.
This dual role as implementer and consultant helps embed its model within municipal systems.
Case Studies & Impact
Naivasha, Kenya: Waste-to-Energy Pilot
One of Sanivation’s flagship projects is in Naivasha, in partnership with NAIVAWASCO and the Nakuru county government.
The plant processes fecal sludge from exhauster trucks, with an installed capacity initially to serve ~10,000 people and produce ~350 metric tons of fuel per month.
Sanivation is expanding the treatment plant (NTPx expansion) to scale capacity and integrate with the municipal wastewater treatment system, with aims to serve 100,000 people and produce 1,200 tons of fuel monthly.
The collaboration is reported to have improved sludge management, reduced sanitation-related illnesses in informal settlements, and integrated energy resource recovery.
Kakuma Refugee Camp
In Kakuma, Sanivation collaborated with UNHCR and NRC between 2016 and 2019, deploying 500 container-based toilets, selling nearly 100 tons of fuel, and employing ~30 refugees to operate the system.
This project demonstrated the viability of its model in populations with constrained infrastructure and emphasized social inclusion through local employment.
Scaling & Environmental Impact
As of 2023, Sanivation reported safely managing 1,134 tonnes of fecal sludge in Kenya, selling 605 tonnes of briquette fuel, saving 1,331 tonnes of CO₂ and preventing the cutting of 18,075 trees.
The company now operates in 12 active cities, employs over 54 local staff, and continues to expand its portfolio with municipal government approvals in new cities like Gussi, Embu, and Nyahururu.
Their work in coastal Kenya (Malindi, Watamu) is also tied into protecting reef ecosystems: by treating waste instead of discharging it into rivers and coastal zones, Sanivation’s model helps reduce nutrient pollution and preserve marine habitat health
These figures underline both the scale and environmental return of Sanivation’s circular sanitation model.
Advantages, Innovation & Sector Relevance
Circular Economy & Resource Recovery
Sanivation exemplifies how sanitation can become a resource loop rather than merely waste disposal. It converts liability (human waste) into a marketable fuel product, aligning with circular economy principles.
Public Health & Environmental Benefits
By safely treating fecal sludge, Sanivation reduces pathogen exposure, prevents groundwater contamination, and curtails open dumping or ill-managed discharge—advancing SDG 6 (clean water & sanitation) and public health.
Energy and Climate Co-benefits
Replacing wood or charcoal with briquettes cuts deforestation, lowers carbon emissions, and offers a cleaner-burning energy resource. It addresses energy poverty while mitigating climate impact.
Integration with City Systems
Because Sanivation works with municipal utilities and embeds planning, it helps avoid fragmented sanitation approaches. By designing adaptable infrastructure, it complements rather than competes with traditional sewer or wastewater systems.
Scalability & Model Replicability
From container-based deployment to full-scale fecal sludge treatment, Sanivation’s model shows flexible scalability. Their partnership model (government + social enterprise) is replicable across cities under resource constraints in Africa and beyond.
Future Outlook & Growth Trajectory
Sanivation’s path forward likely involves:
Expanding treatment capacity: Further scaling its plants (like Naivasha NTPx) to serve larger fractions of city populations.
Entering new geographies: Building operations in new Kenyan cities and other African nations with sanitation gaps.
Refining fuel products: Improving briquette quality, packaging, and distribution for broader industrial / household uptake.
Strengthening municipal partnerships: Deepening integration with water utilities, local government budgets, and regulatory frameworks.
Tech & process optimizations: Enhancements in pathogen inactivation, energy efficiency, sensor monitoring, automation.
Ecosystem & climate financing: Accessing carbon markets, climate funds, and development financing to support expansion.
Environmental impact linkages: Projects like Malindi that link sanitation to reef protection and climate resilience may catalyze cross-sector partnerships.
Sanivation’s trajectory illustrates the growing importance of sustainable sanitation innovation in climate-smart urban development.
Conclusion
Sanivation is a pioneering social enterprise in circular sanitation, waste management, and waste-to-energy. By collecting, treating, and converting human fecal waste into clean biomass fuel, Sanivation addresses multiple intersecting challenges: sanitation service gaps, public health risks, energy access, deforestation, and climate emissions.
Through flagship projects like Naivasha and Kakuma and measurable impact in sludge volume managed and fuel sold, the model provides a compelling proof of concept. As urban populations expand and the urgency for sustainable sanitation grows, Sanivation offers a replicable, integrated solution that links infrastructure, business, and public health.
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