Improving Global Sanitation & Hygiene

Even today, about 2.4 billion people—one in every three globally—live without access to proper sanitation. Recognizing the magnitude of the challenge, in FYE2016, LIXIL pledged to provide better sanitation to 100 million people by 2020. Since then, we have been accelerating our efforts to deliver viable toilet solutions to areas lacking adequate sanitation.

Delivering Products and Solutions

LIXIL is accelerating the global expansion of SATO products. SATO, a range of simple and innovative toilet products that reduce the transmission of disease and odors from traditional open pit latrines, was first launched in 2013 in Bangladesh with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In FYE2017, sales and manufacturing began in Kenya, a new and more water-efficient model was launched in Uganda, and operations began in India. We also clarified the SATO brand to more effectively support sales and marketing efforts, establishing SATO as the world’s first full-range bathroom brand specifically focused on bringing affordable solutions to those who live without access to sanitation infrastructure. LIXIL will continue to expand SATO manufacturing capabilities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to provide better sanitation to people around the world.

LIXIL’s work on other sanitation solutions continues. In FYE2017, we established the Social Sanitation Initiatives Department. In addition to SATO, it is developing other initiatives such as the Portable Toilet System, an in-home sanitation solution designed for urban settlements. The system consists of a stand-alone toilet equipped with a removable waste-collecting cartridge and a collection station where the contents of the cartridge are deposited and the cartridge is cleaned. The system is entering the final phase of fieldtesting to offer dense urban informal settlements an ‘odorless,’ in-home toilet that allows human waste to be collected and treated hygienically and efficiently.

Promoting Awareness

Alongside our efforts to provide technical solutions, LIXIL is actively engaged in advocacy work to drive awareness and debate around the global sanitation challenge. Collaborating with Oxford Economics and WaterAid, we issued a global report on the true economic cost of poor sanitation.* To maximize the report’s findings, it was launched to coincide with the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Nairobi in August 2016. At the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, we worked with the WEF to initiate a multi-lateral working group—the WEF’s first such meeting held on the topic of sanitation—with the aim of identifying opportunities for innovating, shaping, and scaling the delivery of water and sanitation services in developing countries. We continue to actively support the WEF to make this a regular topic for leaders when they convene to discuss themes of global importance to society. In addition, LIXIL is also an active founding member of the Toilet Board Coalition, a public-private partnership focused on improving global sanitation through entrepreneurial solutions and network support for social entrepreneurs.

As a global leader in sanitary ware, we are committed to applying our expertise to the global sanitation challenge and delivering safe, comfortable and sustainable products through responsible innovation.

Click here to read LIXIL's 2017 Annual Report

^{*“The True Cost Of Poor Sanitation” http://www.lixil.com/en/sustainability/sanitation/}