Background

In 2022, 3.5 billion people still lacked safely managed sanitation, including 419 million people practicing open defecation.^*1 The human cost is devastating with over 1,000 children under five dying daily from diseases^*2 that are spread by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation and hygiene.^*3 Roughly 2 billion people, or one in four of the global population, lack basic handwashing facilities at home^*1, increasing the risk of rampant infectious diseases.

The lack of safe, clean toilets and handwashing facilities is a crisis crippling opportunities for growth and development across entire regions. Lack of access to sanitation also leaves people, especially women and girls, exposed to the danger of animal attacks and sexual assault while seeking somewhere more private to defecate. The lack of toilets and privacy at schools also exacerbates the educational gender gap, as menstruating girls often refrain from attending classes. Access to clean water and toilets and improved hygiene practices by all people will lead to economic recovery of developing countries by trillions of dollars over the next 20 years.^*4 A 2023 report from WHO and UNICEF called for a quadrupling of progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 6.2 - achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and to end open defecation by 2030. To achieve this, LIXIL develops and offers affordable and widely accessible products to consumers, while it continuously collaborates with governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and various other sectors in tackling sanitation and hygiene issues.

*1 “Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022” by UNICEF and WHO's Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (A new page will open) >

*2 Diseases that spread by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation and hygiene include diarrhoeal disease, cholera, dysentery, shigellosis, typhoid, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis, acute respiratory infection (ARI), protein energy malnutrition, and soil transmitted helminths.

*3 “Triple Threat 2023” by UNICEF (A new page will open)>

*4 “Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery” by WaterAid (A new page will open) >

Our Strategy

Global sanitation and hygiene is one of LIXIL’s three strategic pillars, addressing urgent global issues in line with our purpose to “make better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.” This pillar is also positioned as one of our priority material issues. We have set ourselves the target of improving the lives of 100 million people around the world by 2025 through improved sanitation and hygiene. And we are committed to achieving this by providing access to innovative and affordable sanitation and handwashing solutions.

Our SATO brand, along with the LIXIL Public Partners (LPP), is one of the primary drivers for achieving our ambitious target. Launched in 2013 with just a single product, SATO has since expanded to offer a wide range of affordable, innovative, and durable toilet and hygiene products. SATO products are solutions that are not only designed to meet the needs of rural and peri-urban consumers but also to influence and drive behavior change. Beyond merely establishing supply chains and sales networks in the sanitation sector, LIXIL is dedicated to addressing consumer needs, while creating products that foster behavioral change, ultimately generating a positive impact on society.

SATO is dedicated to empowering people everywhere so they can have a better life and enjoy a brighter future, through innovative sanitation and hygiene solutions. SATO’s affordable solutions are complemented by LIXIL’s value-added products, which not only support to improve the quality of life over time but also create market demand for customers at different life stages who stand to benefit from the wider LIXIL portfolio of products and services.

SATO’s innovative sanitation and hygiene solutions are increasingly being used in 45 countries worldwide, earning wide praise. However, we work to look beyond product innovation to further extend the impact of our product solutions. SATO strives to establish local sanitation and hygiene markets and expand the economic impact of our product offerings. We are adopting a more engagement-focused approach, rather than simply training local masons for installing SATO products. Working with our partners, we provide opportunities for the masons and entrepreneurs to learn how they grow their business and their local economy under our Make-Sell-Use business model. We also pursue a variety of outreach methods for raising awareness of sanitation and hygiene as well as the impact it has on households and communities among people in rural and peri-urban areas with the most urgent needs. In addition, LIXIL actively promotes these initiatives in partnership with diverse stakeholder groups to ensure as large and wide-reaching impact as possible in those communities. We take pride in our continuous global partnership with UNICEF and our alliance with FINISH Mondial, which provides financial services to facilitate sanitation and hygiene improvements. Additionally, our collaborations with various NGOs, local manufacturers, and retailers are invaluable. These partnerships bolster the reach of our SATO products and enable creating innovative partnership platforms and business models, paving the way for more integrated solutions. We are convinced that these collective efforts amplify the contribution and impact of the private sector in addressing sanitation, hygiene challenges, and the broader social issues they bring.

Learn more about Innovative and Affordable Sanitation Solutions >
Learn more about Impact through Partnership >

Our Governance

The Global Sanitation & Hygiene Council* oversees the strategic approaches and initiatives, convening quarterly to assess progress and explore potential measures in line with our Impact Strategy. Progress updates on initiatives that fall under the strategic pillar of global sanitation and hygiene are reported to the Board of Executive Officers on a quarterly basis through the Impact Strategy Committee. Furthermore, these updates are presented to the Board of Directors biannually for thorough discussion and oversight.

Additionally, we host quarterly taskforce meetings where regional external affairs leaders convene to discuss public policy trends, social issues, and local initiatives. These meetings are a platform for sharing experiences and insights, ensuring our strategies remain timely and effective.

*As of FYE2025, the "SATO Advisory Board" has been renamed the "Global Sanitation & Hygiene Council."

Governance Structure

Our Targets and Progress

LIXIL has set an ambitious target to improve the lives of 100 million people around the world by 2025 through providing access to improved sanitation and hygiene. We aim to achieve this through providing access to a range of innovative and affordable toilet and handwashing solutions. As of the end of FYE2024, our products have provided improved sanitation and hygiene access to approximately 68 million people. While reaching our 100 million target is a significant milestone, it is one step in our ongoing journey. We remain committed to accelerating our efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 6.2, which aims to ensure access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all by the year 2030.

* Refer to the updated 'Global Sanitation & Hygiene: LIXIL’s Impact Methodology (June 25, 2024)' (A new page will open) PDF: 717KB >