 "Sealed Air launches unique hygiene initiative with soap recycling project")
Sealed Air Corporation, the US-based company that provides solutions for food packaging, food safety, cleaning and hygiene, launched a shared value initiative ‘Soap for Hope’ in association, Doctors for You, an NGO in Mumbai. With this initiative, the company aims to convert used hotel soaps into fresh soap and provide the recycled soap free-of-cost to communities that have no or limited access to soap.
According to Sealed Air, many hotel partners have evinced keen interest in the programme, as it ensures that the soap that is currently going waste, is put into a good use, which also ties in with the PM’s Swatch Bharat Programme.
Himanshu Jain, MD and VP, Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia, Sealed Air, commented, “Soap for Hope is a real example of creating shared value for all parties involved - our customers, the NGOs, the local communities and Sealed Air employees. Every party plays a critical role and has embraced the Soap for Hope program enthusiastically. Having received the Asian CSR award for this initiative, we intend to reach out to more communities and create an impactful living by touching 25,000 lives by end of this year and thus create this as a movement rather than a one-off initiative.”
Dr Rajat Jain, vice president, Doctors For You, said, “We want the overall hygiene awareness to go up through this initiative and have an integrated approach towards hand hygiene which will lead to more livelihood for the communities nearby. We have started this initiative in areas like Govandi, Mankhund, Tatanagar and Deonar to start with in Mumbai. We plan to extend this initiative to other slum areas and take it to cities like Jaipur, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and various others. The aim of this initiative is not only to distribute soaps, but also provide employment opportunities to men and women both at the village level.”
Till date, in 27 countries in South East Asia and Africa, 752 tonnes of used soap has been recycled into 6.2 million bars of soap and every year, about 400,000 people in local communities benefit from this program.
Soap for Hope is based on a simple process that requires no running water or electricity. Once the used soap are collected from hotels, Sealed Air transports the used soap to the local community and teaches the local people to recycle/process soap using an innovative cold-press method with simple but uniquely customised equipment. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes and once the used soap is recycled into fresh bars of soap, the soap will be distributed to communities which lack access to soap or sanitation. Through this process, the local people (especially those who need a small income to supplement their livelihood) learn a new skill in recycling soap, and communities have free access to soap. Sealed Air provides all the equipment including the tools and the soap press machine, as well as disinfectant required for re-processing soap.
According to Sealed Air, many hotel partners have evinced keen interest in the programme, as it ensures that the soap that is currently going waste, is put into a good use, which also ties in with the PM’s Swatch Bharat Programme.
Himanshu Jain, MD and VP, Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia, Sealed Air, commented, “Soap for Hope is a real example of creating shared value for all parties involved - our customers, the NGOs, the local communities and Sealed Air employees. Every party plays a critical role and has embraced the Soap for Hope program enthusiastically. Having received the Asian CSR award for this initiative, we intend to reach out to more communities and create an impactful living by touching 25,000 lives by end of this year and thus create this as a movement rather than a one-off initiative.”
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Hand-washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal and respiratory diseases in the developing countries, where millions of children per year suffer from diseases that could have been prevented with proper hand-washing. After having launched and implemented this program in 62 cities and 27countries together with 249 partner hotels, Sealed Air India has now launched this sustainable initiative in India that aims to reach out to millions of families donating not only soaps for hygiene and sanitation but also provide skill training. The company aims to reach out to underprivileged communities across the country, using its pan India reach. Typically, a 400-room hotel generates 3.5 metric tonnes of solid soap waste per annum. Hence, this initiative can provide soaps to 2000 people annually and thus save 1.5 million lives through proper hand hygiene.
Dr Rajat Jain, vice president, Doctors For You, said, “We want the overall hygiene awareness to go up through this initiative and have an integrated approach towards hand hygiene which will lead to more livelihood for the communities nearby. We have started this initiative in areas like Govandi, Mankhund, Tatanagar and Deonar to start with in Mumbai. We plan to extend this initiative to other slum areas and take it to cities like Jaipur, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and various others. The aim of this initiative is not only to distribute soaps, but also provide employment opportunities to men and women both at the village level.”
Till date, in 27 countries in South East Asia and Africa, 752 tonnes of used soap has been recycled into 6.2 million bars of soap and every year, about 400,000 people in local communities benefit from this program.
Soap for Hope is based on a simple process that requires no running water or electricity. Once the used soap are collected from hotels, Sealed Air transports the used soap to the local community and teaches the local people to recycle/process soap using an innovative cold-press method with simple but uniquely customised equipment. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes and once the used soap is recycled into fresh bars of soap, the soap will be distributed to communities which lack access to soap or sanitation. Through this process, the local people (especially those who need a small income to supplement their livelihood) learn a new skill in recycling soap, and communities have free access to soap. Sealed Air provides all the equipment including the tools and the soap press machine, as well as disinfectant required for re-processing soap.