The Centre for Appropriate Technology & Development in Nadave, Tailevu is the first in the Pacific to use the HomeBiogas Bio-Toilet Kit as part of their sustainable living to save water and use renewable energy to provide for their daily meals.
The systems which were donated by the State of Israel through Israel’s official international development cooperation program, MASHAV, in partnership with the HomeBiogas official distributor, Pacific Grow, was commissioned at the school in Nadave today.
The Bio-Toilet connects to the HomeBiogas system, which is an off-grid appliance. The main appliance, the HomeBiogas system, takes waste such as food scraps, animal manure, and humanure using a biological process, and converts it into clean cooking energy.
Director of CATD, Aporosa Silatolu, says the school with a roll of 95 students through this partnership and assistance, said this capacity building in using innovative technology is an endeavor to push a behavioral change towards more environmentally sustainable practices so CATD graduands will not only be qualified mainstream plumbers but also green plumbers.
“The CATD is an advocate for developing appropriate technology that preserves the environment and reduces waste. The large quantities of organic waste produced at the school cause not only sanitary and environmental issues but are also expensive to dispose of. We will not have to cut any more trees or use fossil fuels and will save about 8 liters of water per flush as the bio-toilet only uses 1.2 liters of water, and we hope that with the other strategies we have in place we can work towards becoming carbon neutral.”
Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Pacific, His Excellency, Roi Rosenblit, says Fiji like other Pacific Islands is at the frontline of climate change, and technology as such adds to the sustainability table which is designed to promote more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions.
“The State of Israel stands with Fiji and the Pacific with our innovation skills to develop the capabilities needed to adapt, prepare, mitigate and build resilience to the climate crisis with the use of cutting edge technology such as the one installed at the Centre for Appropriate Technology & Development,” he said.
Both systems have received the European Community CE stamp of approval for safety and the HomeBiogas company that manufactures them is the only Biogas systems manufacturer to have International Safety Organisations (ISO) certifications.
Used worldwide the systems are also set up at the United Nations refugee camps to treat waste in a sustainable way, and have readily available bio fertiliser and cooking energy.
