According to the 10 Recommendations for Action, published at the 2nd international ecosan symposium 2003 in Lübeck, Germany, the main objectives of ecological sanitation are:

* To reduce the health risks related to sanitation, contaminated water and waste

* To prevent the pollution of surface and ground water

* To prevent the degradation of soil fertility

* To optimize the management of nutrients and water resources.

According to Esrey et al. (2003) ecological sanitation can be defined as a system that:

* Prevents disease and promotes health

* Protects the environment and conserves water

* Recovers and recycles nutrients and organic matter

Ecosan offers a flexible framework, where centralised elements can be combined with decentralised ones, waterborne with dry sanitation, high-tech with low-tech, etc. By considering a much larger range of options, optimal and economic solutions can be developed for each particular situation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_sanitation