How the private sector is changing sanitation and hygiene in Asia

Erin McCusker reflects on the critical role the private sector can play in expanding access to sanitation and hygiene.

More than a decade ago, LIXIL, a Japanese maker of pioneering water and housing products, set itself an ambitious goal: to reach 100m people through SATO, a brand that, at the time, offered only one product centred around a better future.

Today, as a thriving social business, SATO has reached 103 million people globally – approximately 57 million of whom are in Asia. As Erin McCusker, Leader – SATO, noted, this milestone not only represents the role the private sector can play in addressing global health and social challenges but also highlights the importance and impact of the sector’s involvement.

Everyone who makes up the 103 million total has their own story, from the mason hired within a local sanitation and hygiene market to the schoolchild who no longer dreads going to school due to poor sanitation and hygiene facilities. Individuals who live better lives, day-to-day, with opportunities to realise a more prosperous future.

SATO’s story is one of learning and partnership. It demonstrates the impact of treating individuals as empowered consumers with the dignity of choice, and not as beneficiaries of aid. 

Why sanitation and hygiene, dignity, and aspiration matters

Sanitation and hygiene are basic human rights. But they are also deeply personal. Households aspire to have comfort, privacy, safety, and pride within their homes. Sanitation and hygiene, when done right, can deliver those things and naturally change long-term behaviours in the process.

That belief has shaped SATO’s business approach. From its award-winning toilet products, such as SATO Pans and SATO Stools, which use its innovative trapdoor technology to keep smells, insects, and waste out of sight, to its connection systems that divert waste to offset pits for safe waste management, SATO’s products are designed to work together as a system. A system that allows households to start small, upgrade over time, and achieve safely managed sanitation in a way that suits their preferences and settings. 

No two communities are the same. Markets differ. Soil differs. Water availability differs. Providing customers with a range of sanitation solutions that are adaptable to each community’s specific needs is vital for long-term change. SATO’s solutions, for instance, are designed with water saving in mind, making them highly relevant for individuals and families in areas with high levels of water scarcity.

The same logic applies to hygiene. Handwashing is one of the simplest and most effective habits to prevent diseases and build healthy livelihoods. It is estimated that up to one million deaths globally could be prevented each year if everyone washed their hands with soap; however, today nearly one in three – or 2.3 billion people – lack a facility with water and soap to wash their hands at home. 

The SATO Tap was created to respond to this gap. Portable, affordable, and using just 100ml of water per effective handwash, the SATO Tap enables handwashing in homes, schools, and public spaces where running water cannot be relied on. Good hygiene doesn’t need complex infrastructure to be effective. It requires innovative solutions that are available, affordable, and easy-to-use. 

The importance of building markets

A key part of reaching 103 million lives is SATO’s focus on building sanitation and hygiene markets. In many communities, sanitation and hygiene progress may have been reliant on projects, one-time investments from international aid. However, achieving safe sanitation and hygiene throughout global communities requires sustained presence: increasing awareness and demand from consumers as they make educated choices about sanitation today, ensuring the supply of innovations is readily available and affordable, and maintaining these markets and ecosystems for tomorrow and in the future. 

Across Asia, SATO works with local manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and masons to create robust supply chains so customers can have access to affordable solutions where they are. By focusing on collaborating with local supply chains, its products are made closer to where they are used, skills are developed locally, and income is created within communities. 

At the same time, SATO also works with local and national governments, as well as NGOs and multilateral partners, to support building awareness of the benefits of sanitation and hygiene, and drive demand. For instance, through the Make a Splash! partnership between UNICEF and LIXIL – the first shared-value partnership for water, sanitation, and hygiene – its has combined the strengths of both organisations to accelerate progress towards SDG 6 by promoting safe sanitation and hygiene, increasing the supply of hygiene and sanitation products, and strengthening sanitation markets. To date, Make a Splash! has reached 16.3m people. Partnerships like this are vital for strengthening local economies and creating long-term impact.

What comes after 103 million?

Achieving 103 million lives is a moment to pause and reflect, but it is not a moment to slow down. The sanitation and hygiene challenges in Asia remain today, and progress is slow for those within rural communities. Ensuring universal access to sanitation and hygiene for all requires an ecosystem of partners who recognise the importance of sanitation and hygiene for health, productivity, education, and economic growth. 

Achieving and accelerating progress will require even greater innovation and collaboration that focuses on long-term market creation. It demands systems that ensure sanitation and hygiene remain affordable and available within rural communities. 

The private sector companies and industries can join with the traditional sanitation and hygiene partners and the government. Many rural communities across Asia power global economies and provide much-loved and daily consumed products like coffee, tea, and rice. As awareness grows of the full supply and value chains required for our daily products and food, more can be done by the private sector to ensure they are addressing the basic needs of those from whom they source – and sanitation and hygiene are two of the most powerful ways that they can radically improve a community’s life.

SATO has more than a decade of experience acting as the supplier of choice for sanitation and hygiene projects. It remains as committed as ever to playing its humble part in driving further progress; to innovating; to building partnerships; and to proving again and again that scale is possible when all share a vision of creating a dignified future for all through sanitation and hygiene.