Expanding Climate-Positive Sanitation in Haiti

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 revealed that SOIL’s off-site composting can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 126 kg of CO-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 innovative partners, 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 CO 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 info@oursoil.org if  you or an organization you know about is interested in exploring a carbon-offsetting partnership with us. 

SOIL is thrilled to announce the launch of Phase 2 of our groundbreaking partnership with the Outcomes for Change Fund (OCF) in Haiti, the first large-scale Outcomes Fund to be implemented in a fragile country context and small island developing state. Over the course of Phase 1 of the project, our team in Cap-Haitien installed nearly 1,550 toilets, surpassing our installation target by over 70% and increasing our service footprint in the region by over 40% – our largest single-year of growth ever. These exciting results illustrate the broader potential for outcomes-based payments to increase sanitation coverage in Haiti, as well as SOIL’s ability to enable behavior change and increase families’ willingness to pay for sanitation. 

As we launch Phase 2 of the project, our team will begin to scale SOIL’s services while working to streamline operations and reduce costs. We will seek to expand sanitation coverage to government priority neighborhoods, build on our ongoing research to create and implement a differential pricing strategy taking into account our clients’ ability to pay, and work with government and public works officials to begin to explore opportunities for a longer-term public-private partnership of sanitation services between SOIL and the Haitian government. 

With planning and preparation complete and initial funding secured, our team hit the ground running! We are thrilled to report that our team has signed 150 new contracts since April 1st! 

On Sunday, April 13, we relaunched the expansion of our EkoLakay household sanitation service in the little-known town of Caracol–a community that’s home to a major industrial park and surrounded by sweeping rice fields and small fishing communities. The overwhelmingly positive response during Phase 1 made Caracol a natural choice for launching Phase 2. Guided by insights from our Phase 1 baseline surveys and meetings between our Research and Operations teams and local leaders, we prioritized expanding EkoLakay beginning with the most vulnerable households in high-risk flood zones. 

We're proud to state that nearly 3,500 households are now served through the EkoLakay service and as we move into Phase 2, our goal is to reach 4,600 households over the next two years! Demand for toilets and EkoLakay’s sanitation service remains high, and in the coming weeks, our team will continue expanding through targeted marketing and focused sales efforts across the community.

It is impossible to overstate the effect that the protracted political instability, increasing food insecurity, and endemic violence is having on the lives and minds of Haitian citizens. SOIL is proud to be able to continue to carry out essential work that promotes human dignity, particularly during this exceptionally complex and arduous moment in time, and our success is a testament to the ingenuity and skill of our dedicated staff and the steadfastness of our local and global partners.

These small victories carry deep meaning for our team and for the families we serve. You can feel it in the pride our staff takes in their work and the care with which they operate. 

News headlines tell only one part of Haiti’s story—a narrative often and accurately steeped in crisis and dread. But at SOIL, we bear witness to a different, simultaneously uplifting side of the story unfolding every single day. We see safe sanitation improving and transforming lives and communities. We see people working hard to build a brighter future. And we see what's possible in forgotten places like Caracol.

We invite you to celebrate this win with us. Share our work with your friends and family. Cheer on our team. Because even in challenging times, good things are happening every day -- and together, we can keep that momentum going.