UNIDO promotes safe and environmentally friendly sanitation solutions to help Africa

In recent years, breakthroughs have been made in increasing the accessibility of clean drinking water and sanitation. Yet more than 900 million people in the world, including 340 million from sub-Saharan Africa, are still in need of basic services. The COVID-19 pandemic has made people increasingly aware of the importance of safe and environment friendly sanitary solutions.

The water treatment machine, known as the “OP series”, commissioned and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has recently been installed and tested in Senegal by a Chinese company Beijing Feb 7th Locomotive Industries Co., LTD. It provides a solution to achieving “clean water and sanitation”, one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The processing machine with advanced “biomass + incineration” technology turns human wastes into renewable resources, whilst effectively control greenhouse gas emissions. Every day, the machine can deal with pollution produced by about 100,000 people and transform sludge into more than 230 KW of electric power and about 86,000 liters of drinking water for local use, thus solving the problem of insufficient clean water.

UNIDO is committed to promoting innovative technologies for sustainable management of water resources. At the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) and China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) held in September 2021, UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Beijing showcased and promoted the OP series processor as a smart circular economy solution to sewage treatment at its “Fourth Industrial Revolution” exhibition booth. The technical solution has been endorsed by officials from China's Ministry of Commerce, the Beijing government, as well as business partners and media from home and abroad.

UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion (ITP) Network will continuously provide a broader and more diverse platform serving to promote Africa’s Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID), and the accomplish the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III).

For further information contact UNIDO ITPO Beijing (itpo.beijing [at] unido.org (itpo[dot]beijing[at]unido[dot]org))