Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Case study highlights pioneering work in sanitation using malodour control technologies
Swiss manufacturer Firmenich has launched its third case study to highlight its pioneering work in sanitation using malodour control technologies. Firmenich says it is reinventing the toilet experience in low income countries by eliminating the unpleasant smell of public toilets and helping to contain the spread of diseases from human waste.
After launching this case study with the next generation of business leaders at Wharton School's Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the University of Pennsylvania., Firmenich's CEO, Gilbert Ghostine, also shared this work with World Bank executives, demonstrating how business can effectively advance the UN sustainable development goals.
"When we realised that smell was the greatest barrier preventing people from using toilets, we decided to become part of the solution, as we have been investing in the science of malodour since the 1930s," says Gilbert. "Empowering students and young professionals is a critical building block to securing a sustainable future and the foundation of our engagement with Wharton and the World Bank to stimulate 'inclusive capitalism' business models."
Today, 4.5 billion people worldwide lack access to safe sanitation facilities, causing serious epidemics and a child mortality rate of 500,000 children under the age of five every year. Following a four-year research partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a co-investment of USD 13 million in total, Firmenich launched a range of breakthrough malodour control technologies in 2017. These solutions have started to play a key role in affordable cleaning products in South Africa and Bangladesh, to make safe toilets smell good in an affordable way.
The new toilet economy is estimated at $200 billion globally, with $62 billion in India alone by 2021. Be it waste upcycling into organic fertilizers or biofuels, building and cleaning new toilets, or shaping smart health solutions, such as digital toilet sensors to detect diseases, this new market opens up a realm of opportunities for all sectors.
Dr Djordjija Petkoski, lecturer and senior Fellow at the Wharton School, says:
"At Wharton we want to inspire our students to follow Firmenich's pioneering model, connecting breakthrough ideas with the execution of tangible solutions that advance the SDGs.
"Firmenich's cutting-edge science will sustainably improve peoples' quality of life, while contributing to countries' economic and social development."
Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group senior vice president, believes that mobilising today's youth is one of the most critical preconditions for delivering the SDGs at scale. "That's why we partner with universities around the world and companies like Firmenich, to mobilise youth as change agents across our Ideas for Action program," he says. "This sanitation case study is a good example of how a company can put its expertise to work to solve real life problems."
Following his dialogue with Wharton School students, Firmenich's CEO met with leaders at the World Bank in Washington to discuss how to advance the new sanitation economy together, from creating innovative financial instruments, such as low-cost loans, to funding sanitation-improving projects.
Each year, Mahmoud Mohieldin of the World Bank together with Wharton School's Zicklin Center, organize Ideas for Action, a youth competition for 18 to 35-year olds, to develop innovative ideas to advance the SDGs. The Firmenich sanitation case study will be shared with all applicants to push their thinking on societal innovation. This year's study builds on two prior papers developed in partnership between Firmenich and Wharton School's Zicklin Center, on the responsible sourcing of vanilla in Uganda and on consumer insights amongst low income consumers in India.
28th March 2019