Making sanitation and waste treatment affordable

We strongly believe that the living conditions of millions of people in non-sewered urban areas can be fundamentally improved. According to the World Health Organization the absence of proper sanitation and efficient working waste water treatment services is still causing over 842,000 deaths in low/middle income countries each year - this fuels our desire to act.

Turning waste into value

At Safisana we see waste as a resource to create value. We have developed a circular business model for local waste treatment for governments, utilities and food processing industries. Our recycling plants turn organic waste and faecal sludge into high value products: renewable energy, organic fertiliser and irrigation water.

Holistic approach

By adopting a holistic approach, we are able to offer governments, utilities and food processing industries a financially-affordable solution to manage their waste problems, and at the same time create highly sustainable multiple social, economic and environmental impacts to improve public health, climate, employment, food security/ safety scenarios for those communities who are ill-served by traditional utility provisions.

One recycling plant in Ghana serves
over 147,000 beneficiaries

3,600

Tonnes organic waste
treated per year

9,700

Tonnes of faecal waste
treated per year

600

MwH or renewable energy
produced per year

286,000

Kg of organic fertiliser
produced per year

This is how it works

Input Based on the circular idea of waste as a resource, we collect both faecal and organic waste from urban areas, public toilets, food markets to food processing industries and slaughterhouses and transport it to the Safisana recycling plant

Output Through the process of fermentation of organic and faecal sludge it is transformed into organic fertiliser and biogas; with the biogas subsequently used to produce electricity. Electricity is then sold to local energy companies. Wastewater is turned into irrigation water for use by local farmers, and together with Safisana produced organic fertiliser, provides year-round nutrient-rich supplements to increase vegetable yield

Input Based on the circular idea of waste as a resource, we collect both faecal and organic waste from urban areas, public toilets, food markets to food processing industries and slaughterhouses and transport it to the Safisana recycling plant

Output Through the process of fermentation of organic and faecal sludge it is transformed into organic fertilizer and biogas; with the biogas subsequently used to produce electricity. Electricity is then sold to local energy companies. Waste water is turned into clean irrigation water for use by local farmers, and together with Safisana produced organic fertiliser, provides year-round nutrient-rich supplements to increase vegetable yield

Social, economic and environmental impacts

In the context of the global climate, food and health crises, integrated circular systems based on the reuse and recovery of resources are rapidly gaining ground. The implementation of the Safisana circular model generates
impacts in many social, economic and environmental areas and UN Development Goals. Improved sanitation and waste treatment services lead to healthier living conditions with less direct exposure to waste, less spreading of deadly diseases and viruses, and less pollution of air, water and soil. Improved personal health and hygiene also lead to an increase in productivity, income and eventually sustainable economic growth for individuals and their communities. To reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and limit global warming, the transition to renewable clean energy such as biogas and electricity is indispensable. The use of highly-nutritive organic fertiliser significantly improves the quality of the soil and quantity in yields, enhancing local food production and food security for the communities.

Benefits for Governments & Utilities

Our recycling plant is a cost-efficient, fully serviced all-in-one solution for sustainable treatment of wastewater, solid waste, and faecal sludge management. Our holistic model provides end-to-end services, ranging from lease contracts and concessions to operate as a full utility service, to tailored contracts on the basis of DBFOT.

'In many low and middle income countries poor waste management puts a huge pressure on the natural environment, public health, and related governmental budgets. Global urbanisation will only intensify this problem over the next decade, unless we support governments, utilities and IFI’s to address this problem.'

Aart van den Beukel
Managing Director and Founder of Safisana

'In many low and middle income countries poor waste management puts a huge pressure on the natural environment, public health, and related governmental budgets. Global urbanisation will only intensify this problem over the next decade, unless we support governments, utilities and IFI’s to address this problem.'

Aart van den Beukel
Managing Director and Founder of Safisana
Chair Board Safisana Holding

#LocalSolutionsGlobalImpact

Over the years Safisana has become an innovative leading player across the circular economy and global waste management community. In 2017 Safisana opened its first recycling plant in Ashaiman, located in the Greater Accra Area - the first waste-to-energy plant in West Africa. Today the Ashaiman plant has grown into a stable locally managed company. With our circular business model now being ready for replication, we are determined to roll out a network of locally embedded Safisana recycling plants across the African continent. Our growing pipeline of serious business opportunities in and beyond Ghana will fast-track our scaling ambitions over the next decade. Like a stone that produces an expanding ripple in the water, our goal is to generate a growing impact on millions of people living in non-sewered urban areas around the world. Watch the video with one of our funders John Stone.