AKYAS Sanitation: Low-carbon wastewater treatment plant in a bag
AKYAS Sanitation is a Jordan-based Innovator for sanitation solutions for the base of the pyramid population. One of their flagship products is a wastewater treatment plant in a bag – a compostable bag that will disappear, leaving behind nutrients-rich soil conditioner. With a bag at the core of their Innovation, they have a series of complementary products that enhance the overall back-end performance, and enable a user-friendly front-end interface.
As a proud member of the Toilet Board Coalition’s Accelerator Cohort of 2021, AKYAS Sanitation has benefited from the mentorship and support that enabled them to seek new collaborations and explore different business models.
AKYAS announces the opening of two facilities in Za’atari Refugee Camp
On 16 June, AKYAS held an opening ceremony for their new toilet facilities at two different locations in Za’atari Refugee Camp, built with the support of Oxfam in Jordan: Two new toilets built from SuperAdobe in Oxfam’s Recycling Centre; and two retrofit toilets to existing structures in Oxfam’s Community Centre. The flushless dry toilets will reduce water consumption in the semi-arid area in Mafraq.
AKYAS was honoured that Oxfam’s Country Director, Oxfam’s Director of Za’atari Refugee Camp, representatives from Oxfam WASH Team, and representatives from UNHCR Environmental Unit among others graced the occasion.
In the process of building the toilet facilities, AKYAS also worked in collaboration with Emergency Architecture and Human Rights (EAHR), who provided support in architectural design and construction techniques.
What comes next?
The pilot and the learnings will drive AKYAS towards deploying its solutions in other user settings, testing viable business models, and ultimately realising its vision of bringing safe sanitation for all. The team is currently exploring how AKYAS technology can help agriculture and resource recovery in Za’atari Camp.
Some numbers about the pilot:
- 4 AKYAS Toilets created: 2 squatting toilets, 2 seated toilets
- 11 jobs created during the construction & installation phase, 1 job created during the operation phase.
- An estimated 650+ unique users served, at a frequency of 100 users/day.
- An estimated 202,000 L of water saved per year (based on saving 6.5L water used per flush).
- Projected 0.6 tonne of solid organic matter harnessed for potential resource recovery, from 3.1 tonnes of faecal waste collected over one year.
“Container-based sanitation (CBS) is key for sanitation to be affordable. AKYAS unlocks the potentials of CBS through its innovative product components: its bag, its powder and its liquids-diverting toilet pan – making the system more adaptable, more user-friendly and resource recovery-centric. It is a radical simplification of the non-sewered sanitation value chain.”
– AKYAS Sanitation
“AKYAS is advancing Container Based Sanitation and resource recovery through its innovations including it whole-treatment- in-a-bag, powder and toilet components. Perhaps most importantly, its achieving this through a user-friendly approach that improves the toilet experience while allowing people to maintain their preferred sanitation behaviours and norms. “
– Jason Cardosi SATO, LIXIL
https://www.sato.lixil.com/
ABOUT ENTREPRENEUR COMPANY – AKYAS Sanitation
AKYAS is one of the cohort members of TBC Accelerator programme. They are currently one of the 10 semi-finalist in Sarphati Sanitation Challenge, one of the Top 5 in FINISH Mondial SanTech Hackathon for floodproof toilets in collaboration with EAHR, and one of the Top 10 of InfraChallenge supported by the G20 Italy Presidency on more resilient infrastructure.
AKYAS is actively reaching out to potential partners to pilot and test its solutions in various settings. They also welcome interested parties to speak with them!
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