The market
The global market for ceramic health articles such as toilets, bidets and related health devices is estimated at $ 45 billion in 2010. However, there are 2.8 billion people worldwide without toilet. To offer them the necessary sanitation, 500 million additional toilets must be installed. The Boom of Construction in China has created the world's largest toilet market, with 20 million units sold in 2010. In addition, the transition from the culture of washing to wiping gives a strong impulse to the market of health articles in ceramic during the next decade. Spain is the world leader in the production market. Japan is the master in the high -end of the market, generating sales comparable to those of Spain with less than half of the units. After the war, Japan had no tradition in terms of ceramic health articles. Under the American occupation, the systems have changed and to meet emerging demand, the country has decided to convert its main factories for manufacturing tiles into health products which offer better value for the same cost of raw materials. A comparable conversion process is currently underway in China and India, two of the world's first three manufacturers of volume tiles. The Italians, who are the world's largest producers in ceramic tiles in terms of turnover, and the United Arab Emirates, who are at the top of the classification in terms of production volume of ceramic tiles measured in square meters, play A minor role in the segment of health articles which is controlled by Spain and the United States. The European ceramic health articles industry directly employs around 22,000 people and achieves an annual turnover of $ 5.9 billion. The world's largest producer is the Spanish family group ROCA, based in Barcelona. Roca produced some 32.5 million toilets in 72 factories on four continents in 2010, employing 21,100 people. ROCA focuses only on the bathroom and in 2006, the group sold all its non -strategic activities such as heating and air conditioning of water. In the world ranking, ROCA is followed by another family business, Kohler of Wisconsin (USA) which employs 30,000 workers and manufactures around 21 million pieces. Japan has two leaders on the high -end market. Toto, based in Kita-Kyushu, is the largest Japanese manufacturer of ceramic items (tiles and sanitary facilities) with an annual turnover of more than $ 5 billion. Its near competitor is inax, located near Nagoya. This group controls around 30 % of the Japanese market.
Innovation
The toilets have been redesigned to reduce water consumption. The double flush system reduced water waste by 67 %. While a rejection would still require 13 liters in 1980, it was reduced to a standard of 4.8 liters at the beginning of the century. Water consumption and paper remains an area requiring considerable improvements and scientists have shown that dry toilets and separation toilets are the best option for the future (Case 19). Ceramics, on the other hand, requires very high temperatures and the extraction of raw materials. Panasonic introduced an organic recycled glass resistant spots with a bubble cleaning mechanism inspired by dishwasher and washing machines. In 2005, Toto joined forces with Daiwa House, the largest house manufacturer in the world, to develop intelligent toilets capable of measuring blood sugar in urine and providing scientific data if the user takes weight . However, the combination of water, ceramics, paper and chemicals gives rise to a complex mixture which requires more than water and energy efficiency to improve its overall performance. Sewer networks around the world reach their limits, even in developed countries such as Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Ralf Otterpohl, director of the Institute for the Protection of Wastewater and Wastewater at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg (Germany), has been studying water and sanitation for decades. He believed that sanitation was a human right long before the United Nations General Assembly thus declared it in 2010. Instead of investing more money in sewer systems that will more require Taxes to finance the construction without guarantee of better service, he decided to team up with Torben Lenau, associate professor at the Denmark Technical University, to launch a wider initiative that covers marking, design and models toilet salespersons. The modern use of toilets is anchored in the minds of people, even among those who recently opted for ceramic flush toilets. It is essential to deal with the image of the toilet by demystifying the realities of urine and faeces. OtterPohl undertakes to design solutions applicable to India and the West until the sewers are no longer necessary. It was in India that Mr. BindiShwar Pathak developed a series of ideas to replace the latrines with trenches and drilling holes. Dr. Pathak has mobilized volunteers in India to release people from the sub-human practice of manual cleaning of excrement and, in doing so, has created a new partnership with the government and civil society.
The first cash flow
Sulabh health facilities in India are a source of inspiration. These public systems located in slums are developed according to cultural, geographic, spatial specificities and the resources available on site. The toilet with flush compost only requires 1.5 liters of water, a third of the best Western standard. The content is managed in two pits, one used daily, the other which digests the content over a period of two years. There are 12 different models to adapt to local conditions. With a million domestic toilets installed, it eliminated runoff water in the gutter and reduces the need to build sewers for nan, which represents significant savings for municipalities that traditionally contract outdoor debt in the long-term external debt To cover this major investment. The cost of investment for a domestic system can be as low as 500 Indian rupees (INR), just under ten US dollars. The integrated version of the community toilets is connected to a biogas generator which offers energy and faster treatment of nutrient waste thanks to a shorter retention time. Since an individual system does not have sufficient content to justify the production of such a quantity of methane, small communities, slums with isolated hamlets, quickly see the interest of such cooperation.
The opportunity
The dirt state of public toilets has a deterrent effect on their use. The model therefore had to be extended to guarantee a self -regulation system. Now, next to the toilet, there are installations to wash and wash clothes. The grouping of these three activities does not only encourage people to maintain cleanliness all around, it also facilitates the waterfall for the use of water from one to the other. Since the installation of the first system in the state of the Bihar, more than 7,500 public toilets have been built and have been maintained. A network of 50,000 volunteers supports and disseminates operations. The largest unit has 120 toilets, 108 bathrooms and 5,000 lockers for the convenience of visitors, most pilgrims to visit Shirdi in the state of Maharashtra. The toilet complexes are located in public places such as bus centers, hospitals, markets and also in slums. Trained attendants work day and night, soap is provided by the complex itself to ensure the quality and minimal impact on the environment. The system now has 700 million uses per day (many people use the system more than once). The water saving reaches 11.2 million cubic meters per year. Biogaz production has been perfected with a methane cube foot per use and per day. This means that all combined systems represent a potential of 2.8 million cubic meters of biogas, a massive resource which is normally not available for the poorest of the poor. The Sulabh organization has developed, on the basis of its experience, a franchise model to apply the same concept all over the world in development with the support of the World Health Organization and the Nations Program United for development. These examples allow water and sanitation experts such as Professor OtterPohl to complete this practical implementation by scientific knowledge, thus offering an ideal platform for a popular app that can go around the world and Change once for all the rules of the popular sanitation game. Converting a public service to a franchised business model, meeting basic needs, continuously improving by the integration of science while improving environmental performance is a business model in the blue economy.
