Recycled soap to benefit less privileged communities across the country
While Sri Lanka’s sanitation coverage is relatively high at 92 per cent, the remaining eight per cent of the community are less privileged in receiving proper sanitation facilities. One of the largest waste components in hotels are used bars of soap. Hilton Colombo Residences has thus taken the initiative to recycle used soap and give it back to the less privileged community.
During a media briefing held at the hotel recently, Hilton Colombo Residences, General Manager, Linda Giebing, told the Business Times that giving back to the community is the intention of taking the initiative to recycle used bars of soap. “It is to repurpose something if otherwise we would throw away. So far the Hilton branded hotels have started this including hotel chains in Colombo and Maldives,” she added.
The cost for the recycling will be undertaken by the hotel while the recycled soap cannot be used in any of the Hilton Hotel chains as strict guidelines and standards have to be maintained as a brand, she noted.
The recycled soap will benefit the NGO partners who will distribute the soap to communities that are less privileged. The used soap is initially scraped, then sanitised in a chemical for two minutes, cut into small cubes and compressed into a large mould.
Diversey, one of the largest chemical suppliers, are providing the equipment and chemicals to recycle the soap while the company will do regular tests on the recycling process and certify the soap for reuse, she stated.