Sustainalutions are a group of Africa based startups tasked with deploying modular anaerobic designation systems that turn biomass into renewable energy and organic agricultural products.

Ineffective sewage management has been negatively impacting quality of life across the continent. From polluted South African beaches to contaminated water sources in Zimbabwe, the current system is not working well enough.

But this is no-one’s fault in particular. The current model of waste management is a net-negative process; it’s costly and creates no other value other than the disposing of waste.

While this is true everywhere, the problems are more pronounced in Africa due to financing issues. As such, to ensure waste management can be effective for all people and areas, we believe the model needs to generate net-positive value. That’s why we’re developing systems that waste into critical products with multi-faceted benefits.

That depends on the market we’re operating in and products we’re looking to create. However, there are two core technologies that form the foundation for our processing/production lines: Anaerobic digesters (AD) and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) furnaces.

These technologies are not new but we’re using them in new ways, developing proprietary versions of them, and combining them with novel adjacent technologies.

For each site, we deploy a customized AD or HTC and build pre-treatment and post-treatment technologies around it to fit the output goals of that particular facility.

On the waste management side, we will partner with waste-water-treatment-works (WWTW) to process their primary and secondary sludge. One-day, we will integrate fully with their treatment system. Additionally, we will work with municipalities and other stakeholders (for example, SEZs and energy companies) to create decentralised sanitation sites for rural communities.

On the product side, we will sell our organic fertilisers to bulk-blenders and farmers. Our energy products will have industrial and potentially municipal offtake partners.

In South Africa and Malawi, we are in the MVP phase. Meaning, we are finishing development to deploy multiple minimally viable plants (MVP). In Zimbabwe, we are conducting research with strategic partners.

We (the Sustainlutions entities) are currently funded by our parent company, PainSolvr. However, we will be soon applying for public funding and are open to private investment. Please reach out to get our investor materials.

We are currently not hiring but we will be in the future. Please reach out to us with your resume if you would like to be considered for a future role.