- Soap For Hope™ (S4H) program recycles discarded soap bars from local hotels helping underserved communities around the world
- The Pebbles Project has created a partnership to support sustainable sanitation and engage, train, and empower unemployed young adults and women to implement S4H as a small business
JOHANNESBURG – March 7, 2024 – Dow (NYSE: DOW), Diversey - a Solenis company and Pebbles Project launched today the Soap For Hope™ program in Cape Town, South Africa. This initiative was one of the seven awarded by Dow within its Business Impact Fund. The annual fund brings together NGOs, nonprofit organizations, and Dow customers to help solve global issues using Dow technology and employees’ expertise.
The Soap For Hope™ program, initiated by Diversey in 2013, has expanded to more than 50 countries globally. Through the recycling of discarded hotel guest soap, this program not only supports local communities by offering livelihood opportunities but also contributes to mitigating infant mortality rates associated with insufficient access to proper sanitation conditions.
Through its extensive network of local farm operations, the South African NGO Pebbles Project, will launch the Soap For Hope™ program in Cape Town with these goals:
- Divert 10,000 kg of soap bar waste annually away from landfills and incineration towards recycling.
- Distribute recycled soap bars in communities with a need for hygiene resources and provide training on sanitation best practices.
- Train and empower young adults to manage the recycling operation as a small business.
"As a materials science company and supplier of raw materials that serve the cleaning market, Dow is proud to be a key collaborator of Soap For Hope that enables sustainable cleaning solutions whilst helping the local communities,” said Kevin Pillay, Dow´s country leader Southern Africa.
“Soap For Hope is a program that directly engages the local people in helping their own community. At the same time, it helps our hotel customers with diverting tons of solid soap waste to the local landfill. This will contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment in South Africa and create shared value for everyone involved – our company, our customers, and our communities,” said Mariette Van Vuuren, sales director South Africa, Diversey, a Solenis Company.
“The recycled soap will be made available to communities that do not have access to proper hygiene tools today,” said Sophie Warner, founder & CEO, Pebbles Project. “We will train unemployed young adults and women on entrepreneurship to upskill and empower them to run the recycling project as a small business.”
“Premier Hotels & Resorts are proud to partner with Dow, Diversey and The Pebbles Project for the Soap For Hope initiative. Recycling and green initiatives along with building the communities in which we operate is extremely important to us. We are proud to join the Soap For Hope Project and look forward to helping this initiative take flight in making a difference in the local community”, said Richard Bray, Group Operations manager at Premier Hotels & Resorts.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Our global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enable us to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. We operate manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employ approximately 35,900 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $45 billion in 2023. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. Learn more about us and our ambition to be the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world by visiting www.dow.com.
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For further information, please contact:
Mary Fournier
+1 989-636-7475
mkfournier@dow.com
Claudia Granadeiro Tagliavini
Phone +34 91.7407845
cgtagliavini@dow.com