A Momentous Sanitation Occasion - Global CBS Leaders Gather in Cap-Haïtien
Members of the Container Based Sanitation Alliance visit SOIL's office in Haiti
Last week, several members of the Container Based Sanitation Alliance traveled to Cap-Haïtien to see how much SOIL has grown, meet the passionate individuals who make our work possible, and dig into the challenges that the CBS sector is facing today—from available financing and the operational logistics of scaling, to client demand, community-wide sanitation behavior change, and aligning organizational strategy with national sanitation frameworks.
What a treat it was to have Arturo Llaxacondor (Sanima), Virginia Gardiner (Loowatt), and Rémi Kaupp and Isabella Montgomery (Container-Based Sanitation Alliance) here with us—to pick their brains, swap stories, share copious amounts of griot and diri ak sòs pwa, and bond over the highly sensory experience of commuting down la Route Nationale in Cap-Haïtien’s morning traffic.
On Monday, January 12, Arturo, Virginia, and Rémi each gave presentations on their teams’ respective work, diving into the niche operational logistics with SOIL’s management team. It was incredibly sanitation-nerdy—and fabulous.
Rémi Kaupp started us off with a reflection on just how far CBS technology and services have come since the early days. Two decades ago, SOIL was still dreaming of an easily deployable, locally constructable, ecological sanitation solution—one that would respect the human need for a clean, safe toilet at home while also protecting the water sources that shoulder the cost of waste left unmanaged.
Fast forward to 2026, and SOIL has transformed those early dreams into a sanitation service that now composts more than 100 metric tons of waste each month—while the container-based sanitation concepts and idea exchanges in Haiti have helped shape and inform a growing portfolio of services worldwide. Today, CBSA providers reach 432,000+ people daily across 18 countries.
Sanima’s presentation showcased highly efficient collections and customer service processes. With a team of just six collectors and streamlined, focal-point collection routes, Sanima services more than 1,000 homes each morning. The team also reported a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 76%—a level of customer satisfaction competitive with many corporate service providers. To further support clients, Sanima has launched a WhatsApp FAQ line, allowing customers to send questions at any time and receive follow-up from a sales agent.
Beyond operational efficiency, Sanima’s experience in Lima highlights how container-based sanitation can be successfully embedded in dense urban contexts while maintaining a strong, human-centered approach. After 13 years of continuous work, Sanima now delivers a high-quality, reliable, and sustainable sanitation service to 1,700 households—providing safe and dignified sanitation to more than 8,500 people. This long-term presence reflects a commitment to honest service delivery, operational consistency, and solutions that genuinely transform daily life in underserved urban communities.
Sanima’s work underscores that scaling CBS services is not only a logistical challenge, but also a matter of building trust, maintaining service quality over time, and ensuring that sanitation functions as both essential infrastructure and a dependable daily service for families.
In a similar vein, Loowatt is seeing strong success with its mobile toilet services—MobiKab in Madagascar and Kaloola in South Africa—both of which have demonstrated the viability of commercial sanitation services and helps fund the sanitation-as-a-service model in communities. In Antananarivo alone, Loowatt’s MobiKab portable toilets served more than 90,000 people at rental sites in 2025, including hospitals, construction sites, and festivals. Loowatt Founder - Virginia - said still more than 90% of the toilets Loowatt MG deploys are to individual homes, and are “transforming lives much as SOIL does, and we benefit so much from the solidarity and cross learning that comes from collaborative learning.”
Beyond service delivery, Loowatt is also creating value-added products from recovered nutrients, producing a liquid fertilizer called ‘Gasy Grow’ that is now purchased by farmers, local flower nurseries and home gardeners.
Saddoudly Lambert (SOIL’s Waste Treatment Site Manager) raised a question about Loowatt’s biodigester, asking what types of waste the system can handle and how it removes items like film plastics or menstrual hygiene products. Virginia then walked the group through how the system separates organic waste from polymer plastics, and shared that Loowatt is actively exploring new funding opportunities to invest in more advanced equipment that would allow them to manage a wider range of waste streams.
We also had the honor of engaging with DINEPA Coordinator General, Edwige Petit, who shared thoughtful insights on the role of the public sector in partnering with private service providers to advocate for the allocation of climate finance to sanitation projects. Rémi Kaupp followed, underscoring the importance of container-based sanitation providers working in close coordination with public institutions.
After each presentation, SOIL staff posed big-picture questions to Sanima and Loowatt:
-
What can households realistically afford to pay for sanitation services?
-
How do national policies shape what’s possible on the ground?
-
What role should carbon finance play—and who should manage it?
While the discussions surfaced valuable insights, these are questions the sector continues to grapple with, together.
Solutions are strongest when informed by peer learning, embedded within national and local policy frameworks, and supported by financing that recognizes sanitation as BOTH infrastructure and an ongoing service.
Overall, it was a great week filled with learning from one another, challenging assumptions, and reminding ourselves that while sanitation is complex, emotional, and logistically absurd at times, it is also profoundly hopeful.
Thank you to all of our friends and colleagues who traveled to see us, and to the many more who have supported SOIL throughout this journey.
