What Fresh Life does

Fresh Life is a non-profit social enterprise founded in 2011 that operates container-based sanitation (CBS) infrastructure in urban informal settlements of East Africa. Its core product is a waterless, urine-diverting dry toilet built above ground for flood-prone, water-scarce contexts; waste is captured in sealable containers that are swapped regularly and transported to a central treatment facility operated by partner Regen Organics, where aerobic biological processing converts the sludge into organic fertilizer, insect-based protein for animal feed, and biomass briquettes. The system is deployed across 5 cities (Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, and Mombasa in Kenya, plus Lusaka in Zambia) with more than 7,500 toilets serving 270,000+ residents daily and removing 20,000 tons of sanitation waste per year, while creating approximately 500 direct jobs through a network of Fresh Life Operators (FLOs) who run toilet facilities as small businesses.

Name

Fresh Life

Legal name

Fresh Life

Website

https://fresh-life.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Sanitation Services

NAICS

Waste Collection (56211), Waste Treatment and Disposal (56221), Other Nonhazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal (562219)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950), Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Portable Toilet Rental & Servicing (BPALAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Compactor, Container & Roll-off Services (Rental, Service & Logistics) (EUAIAGAC), Solid Waste & Recycling Services Administration (BPAIACAH)

Keywords

• Container-based sanitation
• Urban sanitation services
• Non-sewered sanitation
• Waste collection services
• Circular economy sanitation

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sanitation Service Fees: Fresh Life operates sanitation facilities through Fresh Life Operators (FLOs) who run toilet facilities as small businesses. Revenue is generated through user fees for sanitation access. The organization was previously a not-for-profit enterprise reliant on grant funding, transitioning toward sustainable service contracts.
2. Government Service Contracts: Fresh Life is transitioning from grant-funded operations to paid service contracts with government entities through mechanisms like Results-Based Financing (RBF). RBF links financial support to measurable results including number of container-based toilets added, operational toilets maintained, and barrels of pit latrine waste received.
3. Carbon Credits: Fresh Life and Regen Organics pursue carbon credits for their greenhouse gas-reducing operations. Carbon credits monetize the climate benefits of their sanitation services, which prevent emissions through aerobic waste processing. In 2020, the carbon offset potential was 19,000 tonnes CO2 equivalent per year, projected to grow to 30,000 tonnes annually.
4. Citywise Consulting Services: Fresh Life offers consulting services through Citywise Consulting to support partner cities with research, advisory services, and integrated urban sanitation system development.
5. Donations and Grants: Fresh Life relies on donations from supporters and institutional grants from foundations for program expansion and operational costs, particularly for reaching underserved communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fresh Life operates an integrated container-based sanitation service for urban informal settlements, deploying waterless, urine-diverting dry toilets that collect waste in sealable containers swapped regularly and transported to central treatment facilities. The service is delivered through public-private partnerships with municipal water and sanitation utilities and operated on a daily basis by local Fresh Life Operators running toilet facilities as small businesses, with waste processed aerobically into organic fertilizer, insect-based protein, and biomass briquettes.

Product overview

Fresh Life is a container-based sanitation enterprise offering an integrated system of waterless, urine-diverting dry toilets (Fresh Life Toilets), waste collection services, and circular economy waste processing into regenerative agricultural products. The core product operates through a public-private partnership model with municipalities and utilities, with local entrepreneurs (Fresh Life Operators) running toilet facilities. Supporting offerings include Citywise Consulting (advisory services), Results-Based Financing (innovative funding mechanism), Mtaa Fresh (waste transfer stations), Fresh Life Loyalty Program, and Carbon Credit Projects. Services are currently operational in Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, and Mombasa in Kenya, and Lusaka in Zambia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Citywise Consulting: Consulting service leveraging Fresh Life's sanitation expertise to support cities in delivering inclusive services. Offers research, advisory services, and partnering support for integrated urban sanitation systems.

Products and services

• Fresh Life Toilets Waterless, container-based, urine-diverting dry toilets for urban informal settlements. Compact, flood-proof units with sealable containers that are swapped regularly and run by local entrepreneurs (Fresh Life Operators) as small businesses serving low-income urban residents.
• Waste Collection and Processing Services End-to-end fecal sludge management service — sealed containers are swapped out, waste is transported to central treatment, and material is aerobically processed into organic fertilizer, insect-based protein for animal feed, and biomass briquettes. Offered to municipalities, utilities, and residents in non-sewered urban areas.
• Citywise Consulting Advisory services leveraging Fresh Life's expertise to support cities in delivering inclusive sanitation services. Includes research and learning, advisory services for integrated solutions, and partnering with cities to operationalize citywide sanitation systems. Served to governments, funders, service providers, and technology developers.
• Mtaa Fresh Waste transfer station service in Nairobi's urban informal settlements that enables manual pit emptiers to safely and reliably dispose of pit latrine contents. Formalizes pit emptiers' work and integrates their output into safe fecal sludge management.
• Carbon Credit Project Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) registered project monetizing greenhouse gas reductions from container-based sanitation and aerobic waste treatment. Generates carbon credits tied to methane and nitrous oxide emission avoidance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 270,000 urban residents with safely managed sanitation every day
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• WSUP KenyacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 September 2024Five-year partnership (September 2024) to address sanitation challenges in low-income areas across Kenya. Focus areas include increasing sanitation coverage, enhancing safe sanitation services through engaging manual pit emptiers and vacuum truck operators, developing county policies, creating operational sanitation standards, developing city-wide inclusive sanitation plans, running joint outreach campaigns, and installing new sanitation facilities.
• MOWASSCO (Mombasa Water Supply and Sanitation Company)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 November 2023MoU signed November 2023 for Mombasa residents in informal settlements to benefit from transformative sanitation services through a network of Fresh Life Toilets. Launched inaugural Fresh Life Toilets in January 2024, including donation of two toilets to MaryCliff Primary School.
• KIWASCO (Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with Kisumu's city utility to deliver full value chain sanitation services in non-sewered areas. Launched in 2020 in Nyalenda low-income area with 900+ active facilities safely containing 500 tons of sanitation waste annually. Partnership is co-financed and co-led by the municipality and Fresh Life.
• ELDOWAScoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWater and sanitation utility partnership for Eldoret, Kenya operations.
• LWSC (Lusaka Water and Sanitation Company)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWater and sanitation utility partnership for Lusaka, Zambia operations.
• Regen Organics (Sanergy Collaborative)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner under Sanergy Collaborative for waste treatment. Fresh Life collects fecal sludge from CBS toilets and transports to Regen Organics for treatment. At the manufacturing plant, waste is aerobically processed and turned into insect-based protein for animal feed, organic fertilizer, and biomass briquettes using circular economy approach. In 2020, carbon offset potential was 19,000 tonnes CO2 equivalent per year.
• The Ocean Sewage Alliance (Coalition)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner calling on world leaders to recognize sewage pollution as a critical threat and build momentum toward a United Nations Global Sewage Treaty. Coalition supported by Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.
• African Water and Sanitation Association (AFWA)supportingOthersMembership network contributing expertise and voice toward improving and scaling safe citywide inclusive sanitation.
• Container-Based Sanitation Alliance (CBSA)supportingOthersGlobal alliance of container-based sanitation providers and supporters.
• Faecal Sludge Management Alliance (FSMA)supportingOthersAlliance working to advance fecal sludge management practices globally.
• Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM)supportingOthersNational industry association membership.
• Kenya Private Sector Association (KEPSA)supportingOthersNational private sector association membership.
• TARDA (Tana River Basin Development Authority)supportingOthersGovernment authority membership.
• Sanitation and Water for All (SWFA)supportingOthersGlobal partnership advocating for water and sanitation for all.
• International Water Association (IWA)supportingOthersProfessional association for water professionals globally.
• WASPA (Water Services Providers Association)supportingOthersKenyan water services providers association membership.
• WASREB (Water Services Regulatory Board)supportingOthersKenyan water services regulatory board membership.
• GWOPA (Global Water Operators' Partnerships Alliance)supportingOthersGlobal alliance supporting water operators through partnerships.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WaterAid: WaterAid is a major international NGO focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene across Africa and Asia. Operates broadly across WASH rather than specializing in CBS, but competes for the same donor capital and government partnerships in target countries.
• WSUP (Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor): WSUP is a strategic partner of Fresh Life (five-year Kenya partnership announced Sept 2024) and a broader WASH operator serving urban poor communities. Comparable in target customer and geography, with a wider portfolio of interventions beyond container-based sanitation.
• SUEZ: Global water and waste management major with growing Africa footprint in sanitation services. Represents the incumbent utility-scale model that Fresh Life's CBS approach is designed to complement (or compete with) in non-sewered urban areas.
• UNICEF WASH: UNICEF's global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program is both a funder (Fresh Life is a Global Framework partner) and a competing implementer in urban sanitation. Sets policy direction and procurement standards that influence Fresh Life's addressable market.

Direct peers

• Sanivation: Sanivation operates container-based sanitation in East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya) and converts waste into fuel briquettes, competing head-to-head with Fresh Life's CBS-plus-briquettes model in overlapping geographies. Direct peer on technology, customer segment, and byproduct strategy.
• Sanergy: Sanergy is the parent Sanergy Collaborative entity co-founded with Fresh Life and operates Regen Organics, the waste-processing partner that converts Fresh Life's collected fecal sludge into fertilizer, insect protein, and briquettes. Most directly comparable operator in the CBS ecosystem and a sister organization under the same founding team.
• Loowatt: Loowatt provides waterless, container-based toilet systems with sealed cartridges, primarily in Madagascar and other emerging markets. Closely comparable on core waterless CBS technology and the sealable-container service model, though operating at smaller scale.
• Clean Team Ghana: Clean Team deploys container-based toilets operated by micro-entrepreneurs in Ghana's urban slums, mirroring Fresh Life's Fresh Life Operator (FLO) micro-franchise model. Comparable on distribution approach and end customer base.
• SOIL Haiti: SOIL operates container-based sanitation in Haiti with a circular-economy model that composts waste into agricultural inputs. Highly comparable on the CBS-plus-byproduct model, though regionally focused on the Caribbean rather than East Africa.

Others

• Regen Organics: Regen Organics is the waste-processing arm of the Sanergy Collaborative that treats Fresh Life's collected fecal sludge into organic fertilizer, insect-based protein, and biomass briquettes. Ecosystem partner rather than competitor, but a critical dependency for the closed-loop value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fl_org
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCMcvbSHhW-8r5_zJ6pZ9VxA
• Facebookfacebook.com/FreshLifeSanitationForAll
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freshlife_org/about
• Instagraminstagram.com/freshlife_org

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fresh Life