Aussie Company Launches Soap Recycling Charity
- Wednesday, 25 July 2012 15:01
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Concept Amenities has established an independent charity known as Soap Aid. Aimed at saving millions of lives worldwide, Soap Aid will address one of the most critical needs facing our planet today—the lack of soap in third world countries—resulting in millions of unnecessary deaths; more often children.
Concept Amenities plans to unveil this ambitious humanitarian effort, during a luncheon for hospitality leaders, at the 12th Annual Australia, New Zealand, & Pacific Hotel Industry Conference in July at the Hilton Sydney.
"Across the globe, 2.6 billion impoverished people lack adequate sanitation," explains Michael Matulick, chief executive officer of Concept Amenities. "It is estimated that 1.8 million children under the age of 5 die each year due to hygiene related illnesses such as acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease. However, by the simple act of hand-washing with a bar of soap we could potentially reduce the number of these cases by over 40%."
That, says Mr Matulick, is where the hospitality industry can make a huge difference. "Every day, thousands of hotels around the world discard millions of pieces of soap that often ends up in already overflowing landfills. By collecting waste soap and reprocessing it, our industry can help make a significant contribution to two critical objectives—protecting the environment and potentially saving countless human lives."
To ensure the success of its initiative, Concept Amenities is currently in discussions, with a number of charities and distribution companies, to assist in soap collection from hotel properties and proper distribution, of the repurposed soap, to the areas of greatest need.
It is important to note, however, that that unlike similar relief efforts, Concept Amenities plans to breakdown the used soap remove impurities and recast the soap into perfect news bars that will bear the Soap Aid logo.
In addition to rolling out the project in the company's native Australia and gradually expanding to other global regions, Concept Amenities is also striving to raise public awareness of sanitary conditions in impoverished nations and encouraging hospitality providers around the world to contribute to Soap Aid by recycling their guest amenities.
