How SOIL’s Composting Toilets are Cutting Global Emissions
SOIL’s office sign outside of our administrative headquarters/container depot site in Ti Lary.
Through our container-based sanitation (CBS) services in Haiti, SOIL is not only delivering safe and dignified sanitation to thousands of people in dense urban neighborhoods but also helping mitigate climate change. How? Rather than waste going into a pit latrine or septic tank (both of which have no safe treatment option in Haiti) SOIL safely transports human waste to our composting facility and eliminates the pathogens from the waste through thermophilic and microbial processes to get an end product of rich, organic compost.
Research published in 2020 by SOIL and partner institutions in Nature Climate Change revealed that SOIL’s off-site composting can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 126 kg of CO₂-equivalent per person per year. These findings are critically important in a world where nearly 68% of the global population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. If adopted globally across rapidly expanding urban cities, composting human waste could eliminate 13–44% of the sanitation sector’s methane emissions—a significant dent in global efforts to systematically reduce and redesign carbon-emitting human activities.
Through our groundbreaking partnership with Global Water Intelligence, SOIL is now unlocking the power of the carbon credit market. By quantifying the emissions reductions from our composting sanitation system, we are generating high-quality carbon offsets—currently valued at approximately $30 per metric ton. This innovative approach has the potential to transform the future of urban sanitation in Haiti by helping to finance the operational costs of our EkoLakay service and drive down the per-household price to a level that could enable widespread public sector adoption.
In the year ahead, SOIL is actively seeking partnerships with conferences, institutions, and climate-conscious organizations to sell our carbon credits. Each credit sold directly supports access to safe, dignified sanitation in vulnerable communities—while contributing to global efforts to combat climate change. This poses a unique opportunity for partners to invest in a solution that delivers both environmental and social impact.
And the environmental benefits of CBS don’t stop at emissions reduction. The compost SOIL produces, branded KonposLakay, also plays a critical role in fostering climate resilience. Healthy soil acts as a carbon sink, drawing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it in the ground. Applying compost to Haiti’s degraded soils improves fertility, increases water retention, and actively sequesters carbon—closing the loop from waste to regeneration.
Sustainable sanitation isn’t just a public health intervention—it’s a climate solution rooted in circularity, resilience, and equity. Please reach out to SOIL at [email protected] if you or an organization you know about is interested in exploring a carbon-offsetting partnership with us.