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Impact through Global Partnerships
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Approach
LIXIL is committed to accelerating access to global sanitation and hygiene through a range of impactful approaches. Beyond creating customer-centric products and distributing them via our network of local and global partners, we focus on empowering local communities, training masons and plumbers, and partnering with key organizations worldwide. Leveraging the achievements of our SATO social business, LPP and other key initiatives, we are steadfast in our target to improve the lives of 100 million people with improved sanitation and hygiene around the world by 2025.
Learn more about Global Sanitation & Hygiene Strategy >
Learn more about SATO and LPP >
Building Local Capacity for Sustainable Sanitation Economies
Beyond product innovation, LIXIL collaborates with local manufacturers, distributors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to bolster regional production and distribution capacities, amplifying the reach and impact of SATO products. Our Make-Sell-Use business model is designed to create sustainable local sanitation economies by fostering entrepreneurship, creating jobs, and facilitating continuous local sanitation improvements.
A critical component of this model is the training of local masons and plumbers who install SATO toilets. To date, over 24,000 individuals, including women and young people from India, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, and other countries, have participated in our complimentary training programs, developed in partnership with NGOs and international organizations. These initiatives not only elevate toilet installation skills and individual incomes but also drive demand for local masons and retailers.
A training session in Uganda
Raising Awareness for Improved Sanitation and Hygiene Solutions
SATO Toilet Express in India
As an award-winning brand, SATO invests in marketing and communication and makes use of various strategies to reach and engage its target consumers. One of these activities was an awareness campaign in India to promote the benefits of SATO products and emphasize the importance of improved sanitation and hygiene. We've transformed a van into a mobile showcase of SATO products, which traveled through rural and peri-urban areas, making stops at schools and local markets. This direct community engagement strategy is aimed at raising awareness for product availability, safely managed sanitation and hygiene practices, while simultaneously increasing recognition of the SATO brand amongst local masons, households and other stakeholders.
Inventive Hygiene Education Improves Sanitation for Broader Communities
Our School Toilet Enhancement Program (STEP) is dedicated to improving toilet facilities within African schools, thereby reducing health risks associated with inadequate sanitation and fostering awareness of hygiene practices among students, parents, and neighboring communities. To date, our efforts have led to upgrading toilet facilities in 52 schools, directly benefiting over 69,000 students by the end of March 2024.
In Rwanda, the government-led program's success is evident, with 1,400 SATO Pans installed across 86 schools, eliminating the use of unsafe and unsanitary open-pit latrines for approximately 103,200 students. In Kenya, leveraging a cause-related marketing (CRM) campaign in Japan, we have expanded our reach to include over 22,300 students at 60 schools by the end of March 2025. We are now actively seeking collaboration with both public and private entities to scale up this vital project and to diversify the range of inclusive toilet solutions we offer.
School Toilet Enhancement Program (STEP)
Scaling-Up Impact through Collective Collaborations
Achieving our ambitious target of improving the lives of 100 million people through improved sanitation and hygiene is contingent on collective collaborations. Our partners range from influential international and national organizations, specialized institutions, NGOs, to businesses with water and sanitation expertise. Through these partnerships, LIXIL is dedicated to creating products tailored to local needs, building local production facilities and sales hubs, and fostering skill development. We are equally committed to creating demand for improved sanitation and hygiene solutions through robust sales promotion and awareness-raising activities.
Collaboration with key partners like UNICEF is vital. Their engagement with national industry associations and government agencies shapes policies that directly benefit communities through improved sanitation and hygiene initiatives. As a market leader in water-related products, LIXIL is committed to contributing both locally and globally to these policy developments through various partnerships. Through advocacy and strategic policy recommendations, we strive to positively influence global sanitation and hygiene solutions.We engage constructively with relevant authorities and other key stakeholders, leveraging our influence to advocate for positive changes in sanitation and hygiene policies.
Shared-value partnership with UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Our global partnership Make a Splash! combines the strengths of LIXIL and UNICEF to accelerate efforts toward SDG Target 6.2: achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation. As a shared-value collaboration, this partnership has made a remarkable impact, reaching over 16 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria by the end of March 2025. The success of the initiative is anchored in its support for community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approaches and consumer demand activities, market supply strengthening, access to finance, and improving the enabling policy environment.
UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.
We established the Make a Splash! global partnership in 2018 and continue to leverage the expertise of both our company and UNICEF to accelerate progress toward SDG Target 6.2, building on the experience gained through the partnership to date.
Our commitment extends beyond the initiatives in these six countries with activities that engage end users, professional users such as building contractors, and LIXIL employees:
Children with the SATO toilets
- Cleanliness for All project: LIXIL donates a portion of sales from integrated shower toilets, Navish Hands-Free kitchen faucets, and other products. The campaign runs for three months every year (FYE2023 - FYE2025: approx. 63.8 million JPY)*
- Make a Splash! with LIXIL Owners Club: LIXIL donates a set amount for each new LIXIL Owners Club member registration. The campaign runs for three months every year and includes awareness-building activities through our e-mail magazine. (FYE2021 - FYE2025: approx. 7.74 million JPY)
- Sanitation and Hygiene Action Project with Atsuto Uchida: LIXIL made a donation based on the number of interactions with video and social media contents. (FYE2022: approx. 700,000 JPY)
- Energy for Life Campaign targeting 13 countries in Europe: LIXIL donated a portion of the proceeds from each GROHE brand shower product sold. (FYE2022: approx. 1.2 million EUR)
- Donation Campaign for the Netherlands and Belgium: LIXIL donated in line with the GROHE brand shower product sales campaign. (FYE2021: approx. 140,000 EUR)
- Team Splash Employee Donation Program: LIXIL employees donated through automatic payroll deductions. (FYE2019 - FYE2021: approx. 17 million JPY)
- Toilets for All project: LIXIL donated a portion of the proceeds from each integrated shower toilet unit sold. (FYE2020: approx. 26 million JPY)
* The total, including contributions from LIXIL, was set at 1 USD per unit in FYE2023, 135 JPY per unit in FYE2024, and 150 JPY per unit in FYE2025. Donations were made to Kenya, a target country under the Make a Splash! initiative.
Learn more about Make a Splash! (Opens new window) >
Learn more about Cleanliness for All project (Japanese only, opens new window) >
Learn more about LIXIL Owners Club >
Fostering Cross-sector Partnerships
Rethinking Treatment: Georgia Tech and the Gates Foundation
In FYE2024, LIXIL was granted the first commercial license of the Generation II Reinvented Toilet (G2RT) by Georgia Tech, following a four-year partnership and ongoing collaboration as part of the Gates Foundation’sReinvent the Toilet Challenge. The G2RT offers an accessible and sustainable alternative that operates independently of sewers or septic tank systems, and has the potential to be a game-changing solution to communities that lack access to sanitation infrastructure. Ongoing collaborations will help to bring the G2RT, and additional treatment solutions, to market to address sanitation challenges.
The G2RT neutralizes waste within the appliance itself without the need to be connected to a traditional sewage treatment infrastructure
LIXIL, bringing private sector knowledge in consumer insights, design, and manufacturing, is pivotal in transforming the G2RT and other treatment technologies from prototypes to affordable, reliable, and user-friendly products ready for real-world use. This cross-sector collaboration is key to delivering these cutting-edge sanitation solutions to those who need them the most.
Learn more about LIXIL’s partnership on the G2RT (Opens new window) >
FINISH Mondial Foundation
In FYE2023, LIXIL and FINISH Mondial (now FINISH Mondial Foundation) formalized a partnership that aims to address sanitation and hygiene challenges. FINISH is an organization that not only facilitates community and business access to financial services but also champions public-private partnerships, thereby accelerating the provision of toilets and other sanitation facilities. Together, our goal is to improve access to SATO's sanitation and hygiene solutions by integrating them with financial mechanisms such as loans, thereby improving the sanitation and hygiene environment in homes and promoting business growth within the sector.
Learn more about LIXIL’s partnership with FINISH Mondial Foundation (Opens new window) >
Peace Winds Japan
LIXIL collaborates with Peace Winds Japan, a Japanese non-profit organization, to advance sanitation and hygiene initiatives in Kenya. This collaboration focuses on community-driven and market-based sanitation and hygiene solutions. Peace Winds Japan has equipped the local communities with the necessary skills to become community champions, who in turn have trained refugees in reading and writing skills, financial literacy and marketing strategies. The initiative has not only made a significant impact in combating open defecation but has also fostered a sustainable sanitation market and supply chain within the local communities. LIXIL partners to improve sanitation in Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement. By supporting seven "Duka-Safi" sanitation shops run by 120 trained refugees, training local marketers and technicians, and offering SATO Pan/Stool products, LIXIL delivers affordable and sustainable, community-led sanitation solutions. These initiatives have improved the lives of 104,500 people to date and offer multiple benefits: building resilience against climate-related health risks, empowering entrepreneurship among refugees, fostering self-reliance, and minimizing environmental burden through eco-friendly products and practices.
Learn more about LIXIL’s partnership with Peace Winds Japan (Opens new window) >
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Our efforts with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) extend beyond direct community engagement to raise awareness among government officials and the public, aiming to improve sanitation and ensure access to safe water in the emerging markets of India and African nations. Together, we have conducted awareness activities on handwashing and other hygiene practices in India since FYE2021. In FYE2025, LIXIL and JICA jointly held a training session at the LIXIL Showroom Tokyo for public health officials from six African countries, focusing on global hygiene challenges. These educational efforts play a vital role in advancing public health initiatives and improving the quality of life within these communities.
iDE, WFP, and Other NGOs
Our collaboration with multiple NGOs like International Development Enterprises (iDE) in Bangladesh and Water for People in Africa is a testament to our strategic approach to ensure access to improved sanitation and hygiene solutions. By partnering with these organizations, LIXIL is able to establish value chains that facilitate the installation and sustainable growth of its SATO products. Moreover, these partnerships are crucial for engaging with local governments and supporting policies that promote sanitation solutions, as well as for gathering valuable feedback for product development. This feedback loop ensures that SATO products continue to meet the evolving needs of these markets, thereby improving the lives of local communities through our offerings of improved sanitation and hygiene solutions.
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USAID
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LIXIL’s five-year cooperative agreement, the Partnership for Better Living (PBL), was concluded after three years as part of the broad restructuring and funding changes in USAID in February 2025. This public-private partnership reached 3.6 million people—nearly double the initial target—with access to essential sanitation and hygiene products in the 3 active years. The legacy of the PBL’s endures in the lives we have improved and the markets we have transformed. LIXIL remains committed to building on this foundation to deliver on our SATO purpose.
Taking a Leading Role in Global Initiatives
Toilet Board Coalition (TBC)
LIXIL's engagement with the Toilet Board Coalition (TBC) underscores its dedication to addressing the global sanitation challenge through collaborative and innovative approaches. As a founding member, LIXIL proactively takes on leadership roles such as the Chair of the Coalition (2019-2021; 2024-present) and participates as a member of the Steering Committee, which is instrumental in shaping TBC’s strategic direction and growth. Through active participation in the TBC's flagship Accelerator Program, now in its tenth year, LIXIL contributes to supporting the growth of sanitation businesses by providing them with business model coaching, mentorship from corporate leaders, and connections to investment opportunities. The coalition’s strategic focus on enhancing mentorship programs, increasing investment opportunities, and offering additional support, is designed to empower small and medium-sized enterprises and other entities in the sanitation sector, thereby scaling the impact of our efforts in creating sustainable sanitation solutions.
Learn more about Toilet Board Coalition (Opens new window) >
Learn more about the TBC’s Accelerator Program (Opens new window) >
Climate Resilient Sanitation Coalition (CRSC)
LIXIL's membership in the Climate Resilient Sanitation Coalition (CRSC) underscores the company's proactive stance on environmental issues and its dedication to sustainable sanitation and hygiene practices. By participating in the coalition, formed at COP27, LIXIL demonstrates its dedication to addressing the dual challenges of improving sanitation and combating climate change. This collaboration is essential for promoting investment in climate-resilient sanitation solutions, and ensuring that these critical services remain reliable and sustainable in the long term. As a member alongside prominent organizations like UNICEF, the World Bank, WHO, and the Gates Foundation, LIXIL is at the forefront of creating a more sustainable and resilient future.
Learn more about Climate Resilient Sanitation Coalition (Opens new window) >
Sanitation and Water for All
The appointment of our CEO, Kinya Seto, to the Global Leadership Council of the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) in October 2023 is a testament to the recognition of LIXIL's efforts and leadership in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. As the first private sector member of this global partnership, our presence together with over 400 national governments, private sectors and civil society organizations, and other development partners signifies the importance of cross-sector collaboration in addressing global WASH challenges. It also highlights LIXIL's role in contributing to the achievement of the SWA's objectives, which align closely with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. This appointment further solidifies LIXIL's dedication to driving change and fostering partnerships to ensure access to water and sanitation for all.
Learn more about the Sanitation and Water for All (Opens new window) >
External Recognitions
LIXIL is honored with multiple awards for its ongoing commitment to delivering innovative and affordable sanitation and hygiene solutions and our SATO products, and initiatives to tackle challenges across the value chain as well as advocacy for improved sanitation and hygiene worldwide through collaboration with both the public and private sectors, NGOs and international organizations.
Recent Awards:
- Fast Company: The World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024 in the Social Good Category (Opens new window) >
- Fast Company: 2023 Brands That Matters (Opens new window) >
- Fast Company World Changing Ideas 2021: Finalist for Pandemic Response and Developing-World Technology categories (SATO Tap) (Opens new window) >
- Time’s Best Inventions of 2020 (SATO Tap) (Opens new window) >
- Deputy-Chief’s Award (from Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs) at the 2nd Japan SDGs Award (2018) (Opens new window) >
Designing Toilets for the Future
At LIXIL, we are dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to improved sanitation and hygiene. Our team, comprising experts in technology, design, and product development, is at the forefront of pioneering new toilet systems. We engage in partnerships and collaborations that drive innovation and practical solutions in sanitation.
One of our groundbreaking projects is the development of the Generation 2 Reinvented Toilet (G2RT). This off-grid household system is ingeniously designed to treat human waste on-site, eliminating the dependency on traditional sanitation infrastructure. The G2RT represents a leap forward in our commitment to improving global sanitation practices.
In parallel, our SATO business is focused on researching affordable treatment solutions for pit latrines. This initiative is part of our broader strategy to expand the SATO product portfolio, fostering a foundation for improved sanitation and hygiene solutions. Our goal is to address the needs of rural and peri-urban communities, bringing safely-managed sanitation within reach for all.
LIXIL continues to innovate for the future, aiming to transform the landscape of sanitation and hygiene across the globe.
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