For Immediate Release
October 27, 2016
LIXIL Corporation

LIXIL to Expand SaTo (“Safe Toilet”) Market Globally with New
Grant
Aiming to improve sanitation for 100 million people by 2020 with an award from theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Image: Jim McHale (top right) introducing affordable SaTo products in Rwanda
Tokyo, Japan – LIXIL Corporation (“LIXIL”), a global leader in housing and building materials, products andservices, today announced that it has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support
the expansion of its SaTo (“Safe Toilet”) business activities, providing affordable, aspirational solutions topeople that lack access to proper sanitation.
SaTo products are designed to improve the user experience and safety of open-pit latrines. They arerefined yet affordably priced and simple to install. They utilize an airtight counterweighted trapdoor toprevent odors and the transmission of disease. First developed by LIXIL’s American Standard Brands withprevious support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, over 1 million units are currently in use in over
14 countries, starting with Bangladesh and now including the Philippines, India, Uganda, Kenya and Haiti.
1Kinya Seto, President and CEO, LIXIL Group, said, “As the global leader in sanitary ware, LIXIL is uniquelypositioned to contribute to tackling global sanitation issues through innovative products and a sustainablebusiness-focused approach. LIXIL has set a goal to improve sanitation for 100 million people by 2020, andSaTo products will play a leading role in reaching this target. We look forward to now increasing SaTo’spresence in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where these products can make a meaningfuldifference.”
Jim McHale, Vice President, LIXIL, and General Manager of the SaTo business unit, commented, “SaToproducts offer a simple and affordable solution that can help improve the lives of people in low-income andoff-grid areas suffering from poor sanitary conditions. We are now accelerating the scaling-up of the SaTobusiness, using the expertise we have developed in Japan, the U.S. and globally, to tackle poor sanitation. I
would like to thank the Gates Foundation for its support, which will help us improve access to SaTo
products in developing countries worldwide.”Brian Arbogast, Director of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, said, “Inadequate sanitation is a pressing global problem, adversely affecting the health andprosperity of billions of people in low-resource setting. We are honored to partner with Lixil to explore andscale innovative product solutions that will expand sanitation access and improve outcomes for the poorestand most vulnerable around the world.”
During the SaTo development phase, engineers underwent a number of technological design iterations andfield tests similar to designing high-end toilets, including computational analyses of flushing and fluid
mechanisms. The Sato series today consists of several variations adapted to suit local practices, culturesand regulations. This is the third grant provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for thedevelopment of SaTo products.

How SaTo works:

After relieving themselves, users
pour water into the toilet.

The water opens the trapdoor
and the waste falls through.

-Ends-2The trap then closes back up,
blocking insects and unpleasantodors.

ContactPublic Affairs Division, LIXIL Corporation
John Short / Masako Takada / Kai Maraun
pr_global@lixil.com
Tel: +81-3-6268-8801
About LIXIL
LIXIL Corporation is a global leader in housing and building materials products and services. The foundation of LIXIL’ssuccess is our constant investment in technological innovation to improve the way we live. Delivering core strengths inwater, housing, building and kitchen technologies, our brand portfolio businesses LIXIL, GROHE, American Standard
Brands and Permasteelisa are leaders in the industries and regions in which they operate. LIXIL produces some of theworld’s most fundamental and innovative products and services, and our solutions are an integral part of some of theworld’s most iconic and cutting-edge living and working spaces. Operating in more than 150 countries, and employing
more than 80,000 people, we bring together function, quality and design to make people’s lives better, and moredelightful – wherever they are.
About LIXIL Group
LIXIL Group Corporation (TSE Code: 5938) is the listed holding company containing LIXIL Corporation, LIXIL VIVACORPORATION and LIXIL Housing Research Institute, Ltd.. The Group, which is led by President and CEO Kinya Seto, isinvolved in a broad spectrum of housing-related businesses, ranging from the manufacture and sales of building
materials and housing equipment to the operation of home centers and a network of homebuilding franchises, andcomprehensive real estate service. LIXIL Group Corporation posted ¥1.85 trillion in consolidated sales in FYE March 2016.

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