The Challenge
Every rainy season, Tunisia’s cities face the same crisis, streets become submerged, drains get blocked, and as a result, plastic waste starts pouring into the Mediterranean.
Reactive cleanup efforts cost municipalities time and resources but fail to prevent damage. What was missing was a preventive solution at the source.
What was missing was a preventive solution at the source ,one that could be deployed affordably and at scale.
The Solution
Founded in 2020 by three INSAT engineers, Wayout developed the Zigofiltre a galvanized-steel filter that traps waste directly inside street drains, preventing both flooding and pollution.
Each unit is easy to install, lasts up to 15 years, and costs around 600 TND, making it a practical, affordable, and scalable climate-resilience tool for urban areas.
The Model: Financing Impact through CSR
Wayout introduced a Filters-as-a-Service model that connects municipalities, corporates, and impact investors to co-finance environmental infrastructure:
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Corporates fund the production and installation of the filters through their CSR and ESG programs, converting their sustainability commitments into tangible local impact.
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Wayout manufactures, installs, and maintains each unit, ensuring continuous operation and long-term reliability.
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Municipalities host the filters, benefiting from cleaner, flood-resilient streets.
Each project produces a detailed impact report, providing partners with verified data on:
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Waste collected
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Water preserved
Reports are delivered in digital dashboards with visuals on total waste captured, environmental savings, and community reach a transparency tool that helps CSR investors track their results over time.
Through this blended approach, 25 municipalities have already been equipped with 2,466 Zigofiltres, capturing an estimated 40 tons of waste every year before it reaches the sea.
Building a Green Business Model
wayout’s success lies not only in its technology but in the business model that makes environmental innovation both viable and scalable.
By aligning municipal needs with corporate sustainability priorities, the team created a system that transforms urban waste challenges into shared environmental value.
Early collaboration with Impact Partner was catalytic in this journey turning an idea into a national enterprise:
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A 30,000 TND Green4Youth grant supported the prototype and first pilot with La Marsa Municipality.
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An 80,000 TND FundImpact investment enables production scale-up, technician hiring, and national expansion.
This kind of early-stage “catalytic funding” Impact Partner’s core expertise is often the hardest to find. It unlocks follow-on financing from corporates and municipalities, creating a domino effect where one initial investment mobilizes multiple new partners and revenue streams.
Rather than relying on public projects that only happen once in a while, Way-out created its own ongoing system: corporates finance installations, municipalities benefit from cleaner streets, and Wayout ensures ongoing maintenance and transparent impact reporting.
This combination of innovation, financial sustainability, and measurable results has positioned Wayout among Tunisia’s most promising green-tech enterprises, proving that environmental infrastructure can be both profitable and regenerative.
The Results
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2,466 filters financed and installed through CSR partnerships (Tunisie Télécom, Philip Morris, Hmila YKH, Enfa Tamwil, SVR, and ILO).
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40 tons of waste intercepted annually before entering waterways.
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25 municipalities equipped with flood-resilient drainage systems.
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4 permanent jobs maintained, 3 new jobs created, and 130 municipal agents working conditions improved.
Together, these achievements illustrate how a green-tech enterprise can translate innovation into measurable environmental and social returns.
Recognition
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2nd Prize – Orange Social Venture Prize (2021)
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Delegate – UN Ocean Conference for Youth, Lisbon (2022)
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Top Environmental Startup – ESG Summit Tunisia (2024)
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Top 12 “Coup de Cœur Innovation” – ChangeNOW Summit, Paris (2024)
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Selected Startup – UN Ocean Conference, Nice (2025)
These distinctions confirm ’s position as one of Tunisia’s most promising climate-tech enterprises, recognized for its tangible contributions to SDG 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
The Next Step
Way-out is moving to the next level, aiming to equip all 30,000 storm drains across Tunis with Zigofiltres — drastically reducing urban flooding and preventing plastic waste from reaching the sea.
Impact Partner continues to play a catalytic role, connecting committed CSR partners and municipalities to co-finance the next 2,500 filters and expand the model nationwide.
As M Ismaël Ben Salha, CEO of SVR, shared:
“For us, CSR means acting for the long term. A responsible company reinvests part of its success into its community. Supporting a Tunisian startup like Way-out made perfect sense — because this solution directly benefits citizens and the city.”
This partnership shows the power of corporates backing local innovation:
cleaner streets, stronger startups, and measurable social and environmental impact for Tunis.
Future CSR partners - including leading banks, telecoms, and consumer-goods companies are joining this collective effort to build climate-resilient infrastructure across Tunisia. With their consent, their testimonials will highlight why they chose to invest in local impact innovation through Wayout.
Join the Movement
Every filter installed means cleaner cities, safer neighborhoods, and healthier coastlines.
Impact Partner and invite:
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Corporates to integrate environmental infrastructure into their CSR strategies.
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Municipalities to co-finance future installations.
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Investors to back Tunisia’s next generation of green-tech innovators.
