Kenyan Social Enterprise Turns Human Waste Into Profitable Fuel Business


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When Paul Manda and his team at Sanivation first started treating human waste to make briquettes, it was hard to scale up as people didn't like the smell.

"People used to think that it smelling a lot, but that wasn't the case because we used to treat the poop very well to make the product and people would even use it for barbecue," Manda tells the BBC.

Now, the social enterprise in Kenya is selling more than 120 tons of briquettes a month, and Manda says they can't keep up with demand.

"The use of this fuel is very important to the environment in the fact that for each tonne that we are going to use, we are saving thirty-three trees," he says.

"Remember we are also taking a useless product that people used to just throw away, and maybe it was unsafely managed," Manda adds.

briquettes are an alternative to charcoal and firewood in Kenya, which provides 82% of the country's energy and 34% of its rural households, a sustainability expert tells Al Jazeera.

"The briquettes are a good alternative to charcoal and wood and especially they are made from mostly waste material so they reduce on the trees that are being cut," he says.

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