Hotel chain Hilton is launching the UK’s “largest ever” soap recycling programme to reduce waste going to landfill and help communities in need.
In partnership with Clean the World, Hilton hotels in the UK says it will divert 64 tonnes of waste from landfill every year, creating more than 700,000 new bars to distribute to those in need.
This expansion of Hilton’s industry-leading soap recycling programme is a step towards Hilton’s goal to recycle 100% of its leftover soap bars.
Globally, as many as five million partially-used bars of soap are thrown away in hotel rooms every day, while thousands of people die due to lack of access to basic sanitation.
The expansion of our soap recycling programme not only helps us to reach our environmental goals, but also contributes towards tackling the significant hygiene epidemic which sees around 3,600 children under five die every day due to lack of access to clean soap and water
Clean the World seeks to provide solutions to both problems by recycling waste soap and providing new bars to families who would otherwise go without.
More than 100 hotels across the country will join the soap recycling initiative to support Hilton’s Travel with Purpose 2030 Goals to halve its environmental footprint – including specific targets to send zero soap to landfill and reduce waste output by 50% – as well as double its social impact investment.
Simon Vincent, Executive Vice President and President, EMEA, Hilton said: “It is our responsibility to protect our natural resources and ensure destinations across the world are preserved for generations to come.
“The expansion of our soap recycling programme not only helps us to reach our environmental goals, but also contributes towards tackling the significant hygiene epidemic which sees around 3,600 children under five die every day due to lack of access to clean soap and water.”
Clean the world
Hilton’s soap recycling efforts in Europe will be supported by a new Clean the World facility, which opened in Amsterdam last year. From 2020, this facility will recycle soap from Hilton’s hotels in the UK and 17 countries across Continental Europe.
“Partnering with brands such as Hilton helps us to deliver much-needed hygiene supplies to children and families in times of need,” says Shawn Seipler, founder and chief executive officer, Clean the World.
“We are thrilled to expand our existing partnership to Hilton’s hotels across Europe, as it will enable us to take another important step forward in our fight against hygiene-related illnesses.”
Partnering with brands such as Hilton helps us to deliver much-needed hygiene supplies to children and families in times of need
This new development in Europe adds to Hilton’s decade-long soap recycling programme, which is already the largest in the hospitality industry. To date, the company has helped create 11 million new bars – enough to wash two billion hands.
To meet its target to reduce waste output by 50% by 2030, Hilton has also already banned plastic straws, cocktail picks and stirrers at all its hotels globally. To bolster this commitment, the company is also continuing to transition from single-use toiletries, with the majority of rooms around the world set to feature full-size amenity dispensers by the end of 2020.
Earlier this year, Hilton set up regional task forces to explore more ways to reduce single-use plastic in hotels.
In Europe, Middle East and Africa, the group comprises hotel and corporate leaders across a range of business disciplines who continue to test and scale new environmentally-friendly alternatives for hotel operations.
