Clean The World – How This Startup Is Recycling Soap From Hotels Over The World

Hotels across the world have toiletries like soap bars, toothbrushes, toothpaste and moisturizers which are available to be used by people who stay in their rooms.  Travellers have become accustomed to this and it is now an industry standard adopted by hotels everywhere. However, these toiletries hardly see any use and are replaced every time a new guest moves into the room.  Clean the World, a startup established in Florida, is aiming to divert this discarded soap away from landfills to recycling centers and provide it to communities which have no access to sanitation and soap in order to reduce mortality rates in children.

Beginnings

Clean the World was founded by Shawn Seipler and Paul Till in 2009.  While staying at a hotel Shawn Seipler wondered what happens to the soap guests leave behind after they checkout.  He learnt all the soap, along with the rest of toiletries, is disposed off into the garbage. He started thinking if he can find a way to prevent soap from ending up in a landfill.  He then began Clean the World out of his garage. Shawn Seipler and his friends used potato peelers, meat grinders and cookers to recycle the soap. Shawn Seipler developed a way to recycle soap and sterilize it so they can be used again.  After partnering with a few hotels, they outgrew the garage and moved into a bigger facility.

Working model

The process of recycling starts right from the hotels, where the housekeeping staff are trained about the collection and recycling process.  They collect all the used soaps and bottles to deposit them into special bins. These bins are transported to recycling and distribution centers.  The toiletries are sorted manually according to the product by the staff and volunteers before they begin the recycling process. The top layer of soap bars are scraped off and the bars are sterilised before they are ground up and put through a manufacturing line to be moulded into new bars.  These are packed up and distributed to homeless shelters and to people across the world who need them.

Impact of Clean the World

Clean the World partnered with Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels and Walt Disney World Hotels to recycle all the toiletries.  Hilton Hotels partnered with Clean the World in 2019 and in the first seven months, donated two million pounds of toiletries, which contributed to seven million bars of soap across 127 countries.  As of 2019, Clean the World is partnered with 8,000 hospitality outlets across the world and distributed 53 million bars of soap and 5 million hygiene kits.

Clean the World aims to reduce diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia, which heavily affect children and can be prevented by something as simple as washing hands with soap.  Clean the World is a startup dedicated to the mission of saving millions of lives across the world.