PUNE: The Global Sanitation Economic Summit, organised by Geneva-based Toilet Board Coalition (TBC), began in Pune on Monday to mark World Toilet Day, which is observed on November 18.
The four-day summit’s inaugural day featured Secretary P Iyer, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Government of India; Cheryl Hicks, Executive Director and CEO, Toilet Board Coalition; and Rajendra Jagtap, CEO, Pune Smart City as keynote speakers.
Speaking at the summit, Hicks said, “Things are moving fast, and the government (in India) is very supportive of new business models in this space. For us, sanitation is a delivery system for resources and information rather than just a place to capture waste and send it out into sea or even worse, cause pollution. The toilet is really being transformed.” Jagtap said that new data on public and community toilet usage, sewage quality, disease circulation can lead to significant savings in sanitation management and health costs.
“Sanitation economy revenue streams can be generated through new public toilet business service models, and the up-cycling of wastewater and sewage into energy, organic fertilisers and reusable water in cities,” said Jagtap.
Other important delegates included representatives from prominent institutions such as Tata Trusts, Unilever, Kalyani Group, LIXIL, Kimberly-Clark, Veolia, Firmenich and USAID as well as Indian Smart Cities.
