TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluating the circular economy for sanitation: Findings from a multi-case approach

AU - Mallory, Adrian

AU - Akrofi, Daniel

AU - Dizon, Jenica

AU - Mohanty, Sourav

AU - Parker, Alison

AU - Rey Vicario, Dolores

AU - Prasad, Sharada

AU - Welvita, Indunee

AU - Brewer, Tim

AU - Mekala, Sneha

AU - Bundhoo, Dilshaad

AU - Lynch, Kenny

AU - Mishra, Prajna

AU - Willcock, Simon

AU - Hutchings, Paul

N1 - The landing page of this article indicated open access under a CC BY licence. This was not evident on the pdf version. We have released the version based on the information on the landing page. Evidence of date checked and confirmation saved in other files.

PY - 2020/11/20

Y1 - 2020/11/20

N2 - Addressing the lack of sanitation globally is a major global challenge with 700 million people still practicing open defecation. Circular Economy (CE) in the context of sanitation focuses on the whole sanitation chain which includes the provision of toilets, the collection of waste, treatment and transformation into sanitation-derived products including fertiliser, fuel and clean water. After a qualitative study from five case studies across India, covering different treatment technologies, waste-derived products, markets and contexts; this research identifies the main barriers and enablers for circular sanitation business models to succeed. A framework assessing the technical and social system changes required to enable circular sanitation models was derived from the case studies. Some of these changes can be achieved with increased enforcement, policies and subsidies for fertilisers, and integration of sanitation with other waste streams to increase its viability. Major changes such as the cultural norms around re-use, demographic shifts and soil depletion would be outside the scope of a single project, policy or planning initiative. The move to CE sanitation may still be desirable from a policy perspective but we argue that shifting to CE models should not be seen as a panacea that can solve the global sanitation crisis. Delivering the public good of safe sanitation services for all, whether circular or not, will continue to be a difficult task.

AB - Addressing the lack of sanitation globally is a major global challenge with 700 million people still practicing open defecation. Circular Economy (CE) in the context of sanitation focuses on the whole sanitation chain which includes the provision of toilets, the collection of waste, treatment and transformation into sanitation-derived products including fertiliser, fuel and clean water. After a qualitative study from five case studies across India, covering different treatment technologies, waste-derived products, markets and contexts; this research identifies the main barriers and enablers for circular sanitation business models to succeed. A framework assessing the technical and social system changes required to enable circular sanitation models was derived from the case studies. Some of these changes can be achieved with increased enforcement, policies and subsidies for fertilisers, and integration of sanitation with other waste streams to increase its viability. Major changes such as the cultural norms around re-use, demographic shifts and soil depletion would be outside the scope of a single project, policy or planning initiative. The move to CE sanitation may still be desirable from a policy perspective but we argue that shifting to CE models should not be seen as a panacea that can solve the global sanitation crisis. Delivering the public good of safe sanitation services for all, whether circular or not, will continue to be a difficult task.

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140871

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140871

M3 - Article

VL - 744

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

M1 - 140871

ER -